June 2018

We began June by planting our final seeds and sprouts. Admittedly June is quite late to be planting seeds in a high tunnel, but we couldn’t find time in May. In the first couple weeks we rushed to catch up on everything that needed to be done. We pruned and trellised the tomatoes, weeded the beds, and continued to call businesses. Around a week into June it became apparent that many of our beans and cucumber seeds haven't sprouted. After some investigation and research we came to the conclusion that cutworms were the culprit. To fight this we put out cornmeal which supposedly kills cutworms. Then we replanted the beans and hoped that the meal would work. In the following weeks we have had mixed results the beans have grown back better, but it seems that not all of the cutworms have died. Meanwhile the basil, tomatoes, and cucumbers were doing excellent. On June 19th we harvested our first crop of basil for Dalous we barely made the 6 lbs, but were very pleased when we did. Dalou’s has been great to work with, and hopefully we will be able to maintain our relationship throughout the summer.  In the final weeks of June the first tomatoes sprang up. There are now both green cherry tomatoes and slicer tomatoes on several plants. In the following month we are estimated to harvest our first crop of tomatoes, beans, and hopefully peppers. We are also scheduled to tour the Northland College gardening system.  It will be interesting to see how the plants grow with the increasing heat and to find some inspiration from other people’s farms.