Magicland Farms 2004 News

December 9, 2004

Emptied the rain guage! It had 1-2/3 inches of water in it. Some was melted snow and some rain. We believe this is the total raingfall so far in December. Basically all the snow is gone, no ice on lake. It was partly cloudy today with temperature in the mid 40s.

December 7, 2004

We were closed all day yesterday because of the snow--we don't like it slippery down at the stand! We plan on opening today despite the rain--the snow seems to be gone and it looks very mild for the rest of the week. Apparently, bitter cold will make its way into Newaygo County sometime next week. According to Joe Bastardi we may have as cold and bitter a winter yet as in 1963--I was in Chicago so I don't know how it was here in Newaygo County. There it was bitterly cold (below zero, at times, even at noon!), but little snow. By the way, the warm water in James Bay has disappeared and all in all Hudson and James Bay are pretty close to normal, temperature wise. However, there seems to be a slight drift toward above normal.

We still have a fair supply of apples and even some squash. Turnip greens are gone thanks to the deer! We plan on finally closing on Saturday or possibly Monday. I hope to update "Magicland News" at times during the winter. I hope to be more frequent with my updates when spring planting time starts. "Magicland News" is helpful for my record keeping! While sales really have dropped after Thanksgiving (perhaps not as much as other years we were open this late), it is interesting to note that despite rain and cold we have had sales every day we were open! While a few days the sales could only pay for the kid's milk money (about a gallon and a half a day), most days the sales were much better than that. While we are always appreciative of those who patronize Magicland, a sawbuck at Magicland seems to look a lot better in December than it does in August! By the way, for those who think we sit and watch the Food and Weather Channels all winter, we are all extremely busy. For instance, moi (that means me, in French), continue to work as Workshop Editor for both Boys' Quest and Fun For Kidz magazines. I also am finishing my book (it is being edited) Amazing Stuff You Can Make which is to be published by Sterling in the Spring of 2006 and I am starting two books one on Electricity (no title yet) and another tentatively titled "Amazing and Fun Plants, Trees and Shrubs You Can Grow." We also cut our own firewood and we will be shortly pruning the orchard. This is in addition to teaching the six kids math and science in the afternoon. (Annemarie handles the other subjects.)

November 11, 2004

A quick little note about the upcoming weather prognosis. I just skimmed over Joe Bastardi's column (I actually pay money to get the pro version of Accuweather) and he made an interesting note about next week's weather " a blow torch is coming to the northern plains next week". He also implies we (here in Michigan) will be between a blow torch and a freezer! He thinks there may be Siberian air filter down into the northeast. One other note. My theory about the upper air ridge and the warmth of James Bay may be right. The GFS (that the Global Forecast System) is placing the center of the ridge over James Bay! It will be interesting to go back and read this stuff next week to see how much is reality! In the meantime, we are cutting wood and finishing digging taters'!

November 10, 2004

Annemarie read over my 11/08 update and very kindly informed me that there is a slight error. It wasn't $48 a pound but $48 a half-bushel/ OOps! By the way, I found out why the upper midwest, including Michigan, is expected to be much above normal the next two weeks! It has to do with a large upper air high pressure ridge forming over central Canada. Unlike Canadian surface highs, which are associated with cold weather in the winter, upper air highs are associated with warm weather. Since air descends, it warms as it is pressed together. This is the same principle why a diesel engine works without a spark plug. Why is this taking place? Well, I noticed the water temperature of James Bay is almost balmy--about 10 degrees F above normal! I have a feeling things won't change much until James Bay's water temperature gets closer to normal...we'll see. We are busy cutting firewood so even if the next few weeks are above normal still means its going to be relatively cold--at least cold enough where a nice fire in the wood stoves will feel real nice.

November 8, 2004

Turnips are really in now. They are really nice and sweet and don't have significant insect damage. We also have turnip greens. We are finishing picking some apples--mostly Fuji. We still have an abundance of Jonathans and Mutsu and a good supply of Northern Spy and Granny Smith. Plus there are small to moderate supplies of a whole bunch of other varieties like Idared, Golden Delicious, Splendor, Golden Russet, Fuji, Jonagold and many more....Believe it or not, we picked decent looking tomatoes on November 2! We also picked nice Jalapeno peppers on November 6! How is this possible when I mentioned we had a killing frost at the farm on October 6? Well we did water some peppers that frosty night so they were relatively undamaged. While we didn't protect the tomatoes, some tomatoes protected themselves with their heavy foliage--we found the good ones way near the ground. Because of the consistently cool temperatures, however, we now are officially done selling tomatoes for the year. It is interesting to note about the tomato and pepper shortage and the resulting high prices that are being asked for the tiny supply of tomatoes. For instance, tomatoes are typically running around $3 a pound in the stores and peppers nearly a dollar each for large ones. We saw in the GR press about a story from Under The Pines fruit stand north of GR. As of last week, they still had some locally grown tomatoes. They kept their price at $1 a pound (we kept our price, even during the shortage, at 96 cents a pound--we sold tomatoes as late as November 6.) They recently sold a half bushel of tomatoes to a restaurant for $25. The restaurant was happy since they were paying $48 a pound half bushel from their normal supplier. Also they mentioned that 14 peppers were sold for over $19! I hope those few customers who complained about our $6 a half bushel for beautiful tomatoes read about this!! I expect everybody and their personal robot will be planting tomatoes next spring and tomato prices will be lower than this year--but not everything goes as expected, does it?

Last year we planted about two acres of winter rye for a winter cover crop. This year we planted about 10 acres. It seems to be growing nicely.

By the way, I had a huge Michigan Riviera pear yesterday and it was unbelievably delicious! Sorry to say they are now sold out. It seems to me the optimum time to pick them this year was somewhere around October 10. This should be about the time for an average year. However, one must watch out for predicted high winds as well as hard freezes.

They should be ripened in a warm area for around 2 weeks and when ripe either eat or put in refrigerator. However, unlike our Starkrimson, the time to eat isn't critical and they will stay eating ripe (but not overripe) for several days, perhaps even a week. I looked on NOAA's 6-10 and 10-14 day forecast and it forecasted an unusual warm spell for the Dakota's and Minnesota. It also forecasted relatively warm weather for Michigan but the map didn't indicate as spectacular warmth for our beloved state as it did for Minnesota!

October 23, 2004

Well, it rained from 8AM to around 3:30PM and at times it really poured! We received over an inch and a half of clear liquid Gold. However, timing is everything and, like many of you, I wished it rained on a different day and different time. Despite the rain, our total sales equaled last year! Amazing! I want to thank all of you die hard customers for coming down to waterlogged Magicland! I'm glad no one drowned in the lake that temporarily formed not far from the stand! Thanks again! (At least it was warm!) Hopefully, the next time you come you don't wish you brought along a small portable boat!! Well, as of 6PM the lake is gone and only puddles remain.

By the way our September 1 planted turnips are growing well and some are 3 inches in diameter! We primarily use them in soups and the delicious Chicken/Turkey Curry and Rice. Of course, we also have some doubly huge volunteer turnips for those who want to make turnip soup. Just let us know if you want to try them...

As of last night we still have a good supply of pumpkins.

October 22, 2004

We have been picking Russet apples for over a week. However, we are just starting to pick the Roxbury Russet. The apple we picked a week ago is the "Golden Russet." The Golden Russet is very sweet, has a yellowish flesh and only has a very small hint of tartness. If kept moist, it will keep all winter. We have buried them and dug them up in May and they were delicious! If you keep them in regular cold storage they will shrivel unless you keep them in plastic. Roxbury Russet is quite a bit different in taste. It isn't sweet to the taste although you know it does have sugar in it. It is definitely more tart. It stores similarly to most other winter apples. The other russet we have now is Ashmead's Kernel. This apple is very highly flavored and consistently ranks near the top (if not at the top) in many blind-folded taste tests. We have even more russets, but they are done for the season so they are just a footnote here--"see 'em next year. Our Fall Russet is interesting because it has a pear like flavor and is said to be the best apple for drying. It is ready in mid-September. St. Edmund's Pippin is somewhat similar but is ready earlier. Our Michigan Riviera pears are ripening now and we are enjoying delicious eating. Perhaps you want to check out more details, including photos, on the famous Royal Riviera pear from Harry and David's website at: www.harryanddavid.com Keep in mind the only differences between our Michigan Riviera pear and Harry and David's Royal Riviera pear is the name and the state they were grown in.

October 19, 2004

We started picking Mutsu today. Late last week we started picking Splendor. Annemarie's favorite apple has always been Jonagold. However, after tasting one of the Splendors we picked, it seems to be a tossup between Splendor and Jonagold with Splendor apparently getting the nod. Also, I tasted one of the papaws. It was delicious! While this one didn't have a hint of pineapple, it tasted a bit like the most lusciously sweet banana one could imagine! Too bad they aren't bigger! Royal Riviera update--we started eating them on Saturday. They are really tasty. They remind one of the best of the Starkrimsons, however they aren't as prone to internal breakdown. (Actually we haven't come across one yet with that problem that frequenly hits the Starkrimson.) Most of the pears at the stand aren't quite eating ripe. However just a day or two in a warm place and they will be. They aren't at all as tricky to get them just right as the Starkrimson.

October 12, 2004

We are now picking Jonathan, Red Delicious, Hawaii, Empire(almost done), Jonagold, Northern Spy, Senator, Jonalicious, Jonadel, Stark Jumbo, RedGold, Surprise, Gala (almost done). Tomorrow, we plan on starting to pick Mutsu, Golden Delicious and Splendor. We also plan on planting our rye and wheat for winter cover. By the way, our turnips are about ready to pick and we will shortly have turnip greens ready. We also must check our parsnips. Our good carrot crops was completely eaten by deer.

October 9, 2004

Pawpaws are ready! Pawpaws are also known as "Michigan Bananas." The Pawpaw is the only member of the custard-apple family of trees that is native to Michigan. We have a small supply of this unusual fruit for sale. The trees themselves can be seen through the stand's window! Pawpaws are easy to grow from the fruit's large seeds. Directions will be given but all you really need to do is put the seeds in the ground where you want them to grow--the only trick is you should plant them this fall before the ground freezes.

How about apples? Well we are really into Jonathans now and getting starting to get really into Red Delicious. (we started picking them a few days ago.) We are just barely starting to pick Jonagold and Russet. As stated, we started picking Spies on the seventh. It might have been a tad early but as of today, we are finding many more ripe. A few days ago we also started picking our lone Tolman Sweet tree. How about Yellow Delicious? Well, we seem to have a good crop of nice apples. However, as of today, there are just a few that look ripe.

Weather News: Yesterday (10/8) was warm but rainy. Nearly an inch and a half of rain fell. It was much needed rain even though we got soaken wet--we went out during a short break in the rain and when it started sprinkling thought it was going to stop--it didn't and got heavier so we got really, really soaked! The real nice thing about getting soaked is changing into dry clothes--ah, that feels so good....

October 6, 2004

Well we finally decided to pick our Royal Riviera pears. They are really huige! We got nearly a bushel and a half off them. We hope it isn't too early--it will be a couple of weeks before we know for sure. We picked them now since in the past many fell before we got too them and some were already starting to fall. We have them under lock and key now. Last year, when we started selling them, someone went into our storage area and found the rest of the big ones and took them all! When somebody does that you know they must be good!! All we can do is pray for people like that...

October 5, 2004

It froze last night!! All warm season crops like tomatoes and beans, that weren't protected, are done for the season. We had sprinklers on some peppers and they came through. Also, stuff that was covered were undamaged. From the looks of things it got down to between 29 and 31 F. The minimum temperature at Fremont Middle School was 26F. There was no killing frost yet within 200 foot of the larger inland lakes. Notice, on September 20, I forecasted a killing frost on October 2. Pretty darn close...huh!

October 4, 2004

Well, there has been two frosts at Magicland--nothing near the inland lakes. The first was on the morning of October 1 and the second on the morning of October 3. Almost everything escaped the October 1 frost since it was so light. We are unsure of the October 3rd one since it was Sunday and we didn't tramp through the farm--we rested. There is a forecast for a general freeze across Michigan tonight. This should finish all the frost sensitive crops. However, as of today,we are no longer picking beans and corn for sale in 2004. We may pick some more tomatoes and peppers today...we are unsure. About a third of an inch of rain fell the morning of October 1. We took that to advantage and planted some Walla Walla Sweet onions. Most years they are said to overwinter well. They should be ready next August. This brings up something I haven't mentioned yet on the website. We are experimenting in growing sweet onions. This year we believe the experiment is a success. Our only real problem seems to be weed control starting in late July. We get so wrapped up in picking stuff in July, August and September that we never seem to have enough time for late weeds. Once this problem is solved I think we can profitably grow large sweet onions. By the way, I really love the onions I grow. Most are of the Yellow Sweet Spanish strain and they are exceptionally yummy--possibly because they are so doggone fresh! This week is primarily an apple and pumpkin pickin' week. We hope to start picking our famous Spies at the end of the week...and a lot of other varieties as well.

September 28, 2004

We received about a tenth inch of rain--which is a whole bunch for this super-dry September. It will end up about the 3rd driest September ever--I do remember a September several years back where it didn't rain a drop and then there was '86 when it wouldn't stop raining! There is a chance of frost tonight. There was frost in the Dakotas and northern Minnesota last night. Personally, I don't think it will be a general killing frost but I do worry about my sweet corn-- this last planting is in a very frost susceptible spot. We are picking this corn but it isn't all ripe. A killing frost will kill the leaves and keep the corn from ripening--we'll see...

We are really into apple picking now. We are picking Spartans, Macs, Stark Jumbo, Gala and just starting to pick Jonathans and Empires. We are about finished with our three bearing Honeycrisp trees (we have about 15 nonbearing ones). We started spot picking Honeycrisp 10 days ago. It won't be long before we will have at least some of all the fall/winter varieties we pick available at the stand except for Fuji and Granny Smith. These varieties are picked around Halloween.

September 20, 2004

As indicated on our home page, I am forecasting a frost at Magicland the morning of October 2. This is just a day later than normal. How do I know? I don't! It's just that I arrived at this date from sources such as NOAA's 10 to 14 day outlook, Accuweather's 14 day outlook and newly famous Accuweather meteorologist Joe Bastardi. Of course, a bit of climatology also comes into play. Weather and I are one. My mother said when I was 10 she could never keep a thermometer in the house because I always grabbed it! Weather is vital to farmin'. I was asked why I became a dirt farmer (among other stuff) and other than loving sweet corn and peaches it had to do with my interest in weather.

Reading the latest Fruit Grower News I found out something interesting. Processors pay a top premium for Jonathan apples--1 dollar a cwt more than even Spies! I knew Jonathan had become the new "hot" apple among processors but I didn't know they put they recently put their wallet where their mouth was! Happily we have a great Jonathan crop AND a fantastic Northern Spy crop. There will be plenty of both. By the way, my Mom loved Jonathans and that's why I planted so many! There is no doubt a Jonathan has more true apple flavor than any variety I know. Perhaps that's why the processors are willing to pay so much for them--they can use less! By the way, I plan on starting to pick Jonathans during the last week in September and pick N. Spy the first week in October. However, we will be picking both all through October. I will shortly write a whole bunch about the Northern Spy. For now just know they make a great pie AND are great eating. They also are loaded with Vitamin C--more than any other Common apple. Of course, the Calville has even more!

September 17, 2004

First I must apologize for all those who have been disappointed I haven't posted lately. There are a lot of reasons and one is a bit technical. Well, I'm happy people are interested in reading some of my stuff. We are continuing to pick nice tomatoes and are into the third from last sweet corn. The Magic-Bi color corn is really delicious as usual but its ears are smaller than they were in August--dry weather and lack of 15 hours of sun probably has something to do with it. As I predicted, corn earworm can be found at some tips. They seldom damage the corn enough to make it unusable. We are into our second from last beans--they are beautiful! This planting was planted after we plowed down our peas of spring. We have one more planting of beans to come--beans to frost this year!

We have had the nicest Bartlett pear crop ever! We are now picking Gala. Good crop of nice size apples. One of the problem growers have with Galas is their usually small size. We are pleased with their size this year. (By the way, we often call Gala "Honeyrocks" because of their sweetness and hardness when first picked.) Our pumpkin crop now looks good--my boy Matt rated it at "poor" just three weeks ago. We are also picking Macs. Snows are just a few days away. By the way, we are continuing to be quite busy at the stand and stuff is moving quite fast. Thank you!

September 7, 2004

First, look back at my 8/20 post! My mid-range forecast was sure right when it mentioned it would be warmer than normal for some time! In fact, the temperatures this Labor Day weekend were several degrees warmer than the average 4th of July holidays! Normally, the maximum temperature is around 75 the first week in September. Well, the warm temperatures sure brought the people out this weekend--and 99+% of the people were really nice! It really is surprising how just a few uncaring people can ruin a day for ya! Happily, no one ruined our Labor Day weekend!

Our last planting of sweet corn (Magicland Bi-Color) is just starting to shoot tassels. This means in 3-4 weeks it should be ready unless colder than normal weather returns in the meantime. However, we still have 6 plantings to pick before this last one is ready! Our tomatoes are ripening like crazy and we are picking them as fast as we can. I am unsure of how the slightly cooler weather will affect them but from past experience normal, sunny weather this time of year is favorable for them!

We are really into winter squash and apples too! Our Mac crop is quite disappointing since their size is small to medium and over 80% of them have at least some slight scab. (Slight to moderate scab only affects the apples appearance--it is only skin deep. There are two main reasons for this scab--Macs are naturally very susceptible to it AND we had many rainy days in May and early June just when the apples are most susceptible. Most of the other varieties of apples are relatively free of it. However, our pie luscious Calville's have it also! Happily, our beautiful crop of Northern Spy, another great pie apple that is loaded with Vitamin C, are relatively free of it this year!) Why the Macs are small, alludes me. Many of our other apples are larger than other years. The exception to this general rule are not only the Macs but the Red Delicious as well. Goodness, there was surely enough rain this spring!

September 1, 2004

We started picking acorn squash on Monday (8/30)--they are selling fast! It looks like a good (not great, though) crop. However, they are definitely larger than last year. At present, we are undecided of whether to pick other types of squash just yet--most likely we will spot pick them in a few days. I disced down the second planting of beans, last evening, to prepare the ground for turnips. If we have the energy we will plant the turnips today, sometime. We are devoting our time and energy to make a big sales day on the Labor Day weekend. We will have lots of tiny pumpkins and sugar pumpkins and a few big ones out for the Labor Day holiday--this lets people know we will have pumpkins. By the way, it sure looks like a lot better crop of pumpkins than last year! It looks like the primary sweet corn we will have this weekend is the delicious Silver King, which is a white corn. We also should have some Secret Bi-Color, Silver Queen, Bi-color Silver Queen and perhaps, just perhaps Kandy Korn (yellow)--although I looked yesterday and it obviously wasn't ready yet. (It seems I have been looking at its red tassels for a month! Which means it should be ready...but, who knows!) We received over 2 inches of rain in three days (8/26, 8/27 and 8/28). This assures us of a decent September crop of sweet corn. There is a good chance we will have corn until frost, unless frost stays away until the end of October--which has happened in the past (very, very rarely, though) This year we invested in a corn ear worm trap--it uses pheromes (sex attractants). Apparently our corn ear worms are really sexy since we trapped a lot of them! They are coming--and these moth's offspring should appear in the corn in about a week! I just had to bring you bad news didn't I...There are a lot of nice green tomatoes there but we seem to be only getting six to eight buckets of ripe ones per day....I think (the eternal optimist) we will go out there soon and get over 20 buckets!!!!

August 20, 2004

First I must mention Magicland has been extremely busy with many, many wonderful customers (as well as a few not-so- wonderful ones). Second, the cool weather for the last two weeks has really slowed crop development. I remember tomatoes were really ripening in early August but then the chill came and they actually stopped ripening for nearly a week! The same was true with the corn. Well, it looks like warm weather will return and last for some time--perhaps through September! What we need is rain now. The sooner the better! Looks like a great squash crop and we will start picking some acorn (table queen) squash next week.

August 8, 2004

Well, we tasted Tendersweet 277A! It is really good corn! I personally think our Magic Bi-color tastes better, but perhaps isn't as sweet. By the way, the sweetest corn we've tasted is Secret Bi-Color, which should start to ripen around 8/16.

We are continuing to pick those deliciously juicy yellow plums. They are a huge hit not only with our valued customers but our picking crew (sons and daughters). While I planted them about 20 years ago, I am unsure of their actual name. However, they are either the Shiro or Early Golden Variety. We also are now picking Melba apples. The Melba apple was Dr. Tukey's altime favorite apple variety. Dr. Tukey wrote the bible on the Dwarfed Fruit Tree.

We apparently goofed a bit. Our Tendersweet 277A bi-color sweet corn variety was ready to be picked on Saturday August 7 and we didn't know it. Less than 2 weeks ago it was just starting to tassel. Normally, it takes nearly 20 days from tasseling to picking. However, Tendersweet is a type of Supersweet and Supersweets fill their kernels really quickly! Taste tests have indicated this variety is a favorite. We will try it today and report back here before sack time.

By the way another real winner at the taste tests was Secret White. Our Secret White should also be ready this week and we will let you know how it tastes.

August 5, 2004

Tomorrow we plan on picking the deliciously sweet Magic Bi-Color corn. This corn is not only exceptionally sweet and tender but has a truly luscious flavor. We are asking $3.00 a dozen for this corn. We also will pick Kandy King which is an exceptionally sweeet yellow sweet corn. It has smaller ears than Magic and it doesn't quite have the flavor.

July 22, 2004

Well, we picked 5 bushels of young tender corn-- all was gone by noon. It was real hard to find ripe enough corn. Raccoon and corn borer damage was below normal. (Some years the combined damage can approach 90% for the first few days--then it normally rapidly declines.) We hope to pick 10 bushels tomorrow and 20+ bushels on Saturday. We are picking three varieties now: Fleet, Spring and Bon Appetit. Bon Appetit is the best one with nice sized ears and a deliciously sweet and tender flavor. Next week we will differentiate the three (and get a higher price for the Bon Appetit.) For this week, however, we throw all in the same bin and only charge $2.50 a dozen!

Well, obviously I was off a few days when I said we will pick corn on the 17th. We looked real good on the 19th and decided today will be the day! Its 7AM right now and we will be picking corn this morning. I hope to update this report this evening to let ya know how we did! By the way we are picking beans from our second patch already and we are picking Quinte apples, cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, sunflowers, kohlrabi, and some other stuff!

Headline News as of July 4

Yes, our early and mid sweet corn is over knee high! In fact, it averages around waist high. Our earliest corn is starting to tassel. Of course, some of our late corn has just been planted and we plan on planting our latest corn this week! We have finished picking the Snow Peas and are nearly finished with regular peas. We will be picking green beans this week and digging our sand-grown Red Norland potatoes.

July 4, 2004

Believe it or not it rained last night and this morning! We received about 3/4 an inch! While the crops haven't really suffered from the dry spell, they would have been under stress this week without rain! We don't have to water, we don't have to water! Hallelujah!

Right now we expect to start selling corn on July 17. Although I hope to start on July 16! This year we will start right off with great tasting corn and we should have nice sized ears due to our variety selection. By July 19 or 20 we will have our Bon Appetit sweet corn. Remember the name means "good appetite" in French. This implies the ears are "big." This yellow and white corn has the biggest ears I have seen in an early corn! It is delicious too-much tastier than other early corn varieties.

This year we have kohlrabi! We will start harvesting it this week. By the weekend we should have green beans, red potatoes, kohlrabi and zucchini for sale!

June 22, 2004

Our snow pea crop is nearing its peak. It will be through in about a week. We are selling snow peas in pound bags ( $1 each) and 1/2 bushels ($7). Today we started picking our regular peas. They will peak in about a week. The price of the regular peas are one dollar a pound bag and $5.00 a 1/2 bushel. If you want a half bushel (or more of peas) be sure to email us at magiclandfarms@yahoo.com to place an order. Alternatively, you can call us at 231-652-2368. At this point, we plan on starting to dig our delicious sand-grown red Norland potatoes on July 1. Our first corn is starting to show tassels. If the next 3 weeks are slightly above normal the corn should start on July 10, if it is slightly below normal the corn should start around July 15. This is roughly average and is about 2 weeks earlier than last year!

June 17, 2004

We have a fantastic!!! pea crop! Our snow peas are fabulous in both quantity and quality. We are freezing some for ourselves. We wash, take the ends off and then blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes (counted from the time the water starts to boil again) and then place them in freezer bags. Its real easy to do! Our regular shell peas should be ready shortly. They are the new Eclipse variety which is the best tasting pea there is!! Our strawberries are nearly gone. We had good demand, but a poor crop. Frost, animals (including birds) and perhaps too rich a ground (the plants were lush but few berries). Our sand grown red potatoes look awesome!! It won't be long before we start digging them for sale!! Most everything seems to be doing well and the season looks a lot earlier than last year and perhaps a bit earlier than average. The weather continues to be warmer than the forecasts indicate. For instance, yesterday was hot and humid (88 degrees and real humid) while we expected temperatures in the 70's. The NWS (National Weather Service) forecasts temperatures only in the low 70s for the next few days--we will see!!

June 12, 2004

Well, we would have started selling strawberries on June 10 except for you-know-what (more rain). We picked enough strawberries on the 8th for strawberry shortcake for the 8 people in our family. We started picking for sale on the 11th. The snow peas have rapidly ripened so we were surprised there were quite a few of them out there on the 11th--actually enough to sell! We will be picking them (snow peas) and strawberries today (June 12). The regular peas should be ready in about a week. Snow peas are picked quite young so you eat the whole thing. They are great stir fried, boiled or steamed. They can be eaten fresh, although most people like to cook them slightly.

Our final rain total for May was 13.5 inches. June is also starting wet with over 2 inches already falling. Obviously the rain has contributed to perhaps the best pea crop we ever had! The potatoes are also relishing the rain. We will likely start selling those delicious sand grown, hand-dug potatoes, along with some of our famous tender green beans around the fourth of July.

May 28, 2004

Believe it or not we got more rain! Most fell on the 22nd and 23rd. We estimate our total for May is between 10 and 11 inches. This has delayed our planting but we have been planting quite voraciously the last two days. With nearly all our pumpkins in and about half the winter squash. We hope to get the rest of the squash in today and seed our melons tomorrow. We completed the second planting of beans--green, yellow and purple. Tomatoes are nearing the half way point in being set out. The good news is that we have a good apricot crop. Since they bloom so early this is a bit unusual. By the way our apricot trees are 33 years old this year and they are HUGE! Our potatoes also look fantastic--they were planted in sandy soil!

CROP ALERT!!! It looks like we will start picking strawberries for sale around June 10. Some peas may be ready shortly after that!

May 16, 2004

Well, we didn't get drowned out! However, Newaygo County experienced their worst flooding since the 1986 deluge which washed out the White Cloud dam. The farm experienced moderate erosion with some of the beans were washed out (they were on a hill). The rain made a few gullies that had to repaired and it did wash out all the road around our 2 foot tube that lets the water through from our intermittent creek. How much fell? Well we figure a total of 6 inches fell on the 8th and 9th of May. The good news is that the corn planted on May 5 or earlier is mostly up. Some is several inches tall! Our apples reached peak bloom around the 12th of May. Also the strawberries are reaching peak bloom and there are some small green strawberries on them. Our peas are fantastic! They are approaching a foot tall! It seems like all the potatoes are up--but the dastardly Colorado Potato Beetle is also starting to roam about! Of course all the rain raises fears of scab--but we'll see! By the way, the bluegill fishing by shore is great and we already have several meals on those delicious fish in the freezer! The bluegills are real nice sized too!

May 6, 2004

This year we planted peas. We planted both the snow pea, which when picked very young are eaten whole. This is a very high quality, gourmet type pea. Ideal for stir frying and freezing. We also planted a new type of the standard shell type. The name of this variety is a secret. Suffice it to say that taste tests have consistently rated this the best tasting standard pea. This "secret" pea must be shelled before eaten. Since we have so many hungry mouths to feed, we usually cook them whole and then let the "hungry eaters" shell them on their plate. The peas look good and we should have a nice crop of them starting in mid-June.

Our strawberries are just starting to bloom (as of 5/5) and we may start picking them as early as June 1. It's hard to tell what sort of crop we will have--we can only say it will very likely be larger than last years. Our 5/2 frost hurt our sweet cherries (we just have a few large trees) but looks like it did little significant damage to our apricots, plums, pears and apples.

We already planted our early corn and are starting to plant our midseason and late corn including the favorites (MagicBicolor and Secret Bi-Color.) We have planted onions this year as a trial. By the way, we plant seeds not sets or transplants. They are coming up. Also coming up are carrots, kohlrabi, potatoes and dill. We expanded our irrigation system a bit this year and will be able to irrigate a few more acres relatively conveniently. By the way, we raise all our tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants ourselves in our small unheated greenhouses. We have two new varieties of tomatoes--Amelia and BHN444. We chose these two varieties because according to taste tests they were rated tops! We will see...

We plan on opening for the season sometime in early to mid June. We hope to have strawberries, peas and kohlrabi for sale in June. Keep checking our update for the very latest!