Fresh News
2007, straight from the strawberry patch.Fresh News
2007, straight from the strawberry patch.
Monday December 10, 2007 ----- My how time does
fly. Believe it or not we are still busy, just in other directions.
After closing the Fall season down we have spent a few weeks working on our
house ----- I think maybe we will finish some of the projects we started a year
ago. This is the slowest time of the year for us and we are certainly
trying to take advantage of every moment. Here at the farm, the
Strawberry plants are growing very nicely and we seemed to pe poised for a good
Spring in 2008.
Our family wishes you are your
family a wonderful Holiday season!
Thursday November 08,
2007 ---- What a great season! Sorry for the
lack of entries here, I will use the ole "been a tad bit busy" excuse, or maybe
the "so tired don't know my own name" excuse would work as well.
Regardless, we are not complaining about being busy!!!! We understand that
this is the time of the year when we need to put in triple time because in about
2 weeks the income will come to a screaching halt. I don't know how the
season could have been any better, the crowds were good and we are just
about finished hosting 7,400 school kids. In the midst of all the
comotion we were able to get the Strawberry plants planted at both Marble Falls
and Lexington farms. The plants are looking good right now
----- only a short 4 months and we should be picking! The Marble
Falls farm will stay open through Saturday November 17th - things are a bit laid
back now so bring a picnic and just have a relaxing time with
us.
Saturday October 20, 2007 --- Hey, "thanks" to all you folks that have come out and "harvested some
Fall (maybe late summer is more depictive of the weather we have been having)
fun. This has been a very good season so far and "we could'nt have
done it without you!".
It is a bit hot and dry here but
we understand there is a cold front on the horizon?
yea!!!!
If you read the entry before this you will see I
mentioned Tracy and the 'maze gauge'. Well, I fear that I upset Tracy by
funning with her. Let me set the record straight ---- I completely BELIEVE
she completed the maze in 19 minutes. If anyone can do it that fast -----
she is the one. Women!!!! seems like I stay in constant hot water with
them! AAAArrrrggggghhhhh!!!
Better go ----- sleep needs to
be slept. Come see us ..... we'll be waiting for
you!
Friday October 12, 2007 ---- Yipee!
32,000 plants down, only 25,000 to go. In amongst the mad
house of what seemed like 500 school group kids, maze goers, pumpkin painters,
hay-riders, scarecrow stuffers and ...... my wife, we planted 25,600 Strawberry
plants. It wasn't too bad other than we got tired of saying "welcome to
Texas, please produce 10 pounds of berries" to every plant. Just in case
the plants did not understand we said it in English and Spanish. The plants
originated in Prince Edward Island, Canada ----- we don't know how to speak
French so they probably heard something like "kick back and take it easy, don't
worry bout making any berries". Overall we are very happy with the way
planting is going, how the plants look and the time at which we are getting them
in the ground. Now if we can just get through the next 6 months we might
make some berries.
Wow! we have started the Fall season out with
a bang! Just the time we are dog tired and worried about how things are
going someone will send us an email such as this one from Victoria "We came out
to your pumpkin patch yesterday and we had so much fun. Thank you for
having such an exciting place for families to come out and spend time
together. I was very pleased with the layout of the patch, and how much
fun everyone had in our family" then we have an instant burst of energy and are
ready for the next round. Smiling Faces are the best part of our
farm!
"Texas" the Maze is doing good. I am a bit perplexed
though, Tracy from down the street came out (she is my gauge of how hard it is)
and said she did it in 19 minutes yet customers over the weekend were averaging
an hour to an hour and a half. I don't know if even I could do it in
19 minutes. I think I am suspicious of some "fuzzy math" going
on, I think she is just bitter because she did not even finish it in
the Spring. She tried to use the ole "I had kids hanging around my neck"
excuse but I think I know better. I will admit, West Texas is
hideous. Between the convention of every worm in Burnet County, flooding
rains, sitting hay and everything else it just turned out very sparse.
Luckily central and east Texas turned out good. Hardest town, don't know
.... one person says "Silver" and the next says "no, I found Silver at least ten
times".
Welp, I better get out there and move some
pumpkins --- we still have another hour of daylight! Come on out and
enjoy the Fall (is it Fall? doesn't seem like it is very cool yet) we'll
be waiting for you.
Tuesday September 04, 2007 -----
Time is flying by!!! and I feel as if I am being left
behind. Boy, things are hoppin around here. Do you realize Pumpkin
season is right around the corner? It is raining yet again here this
morning. I have decided to quit the "rain on" day program for awhile ----
the objective was to show that it rained more on the weekends than any other
day. I think we change the rules to "rain on OR forecast to rain
on days while we are open for business". Somehow we will change the
rules to support my theory of weekend rain outs. I told the kids to take a
good look because I don't think they will ever again see this country rained on
and green throughout the entire summer. I am certainly not complaining but
this has been a crazy summer. We have frogs everywhere from all the
rain. The grass and weeds are out of control, and here I sit because the
rain is falling outside. I figure we are about 25" ahead of our normal
annual rainfall. The top of our water table was about 14 feet below ground
level here at the farm before all this rain started, I wonder if it has come up
any since the rains started? Who knows, next time you drive up to the gate
you might find a water park instead.
How are
things on the farm? Well, let me tell you........ all the old Strawberry
plastic is finally up. We have some serious land preperation to do in
order to build beds in the next week or two. The plants have been
ordered and we should be planting next month. We are going to try to
add a few more plants to see if we can increase production some. I
love growing Strawberries just because we can do something a little different
every year.
The Blackberries are now all
pruned, we just have some training and cleaning up to do there. One
thing for sure, they have responded well to the rain. When in
the Blackberry patch I feel like Jack surrounded by bean
stalks.
The 'Texas' Maze is growing well.
Because of a long story I will just say that central and east Texas are 4
feet now, the panhandle and west Texas are about 2 feet, the kid Maze is every
where from 1 to 4 feet tall. It should be interesting to see how it all
turns out. We tried growing an additional Maze across the road but it
did not work out (we had a hay cutting issue back during the July rains),
maybe next year for that maze. We are still on target to open the Maze the
last of this month.
Wednesday August 08, 2007
---- We are still here, busy as ever. Lots to do
right now, all the rain in July prevented alot of work so we are now doing
double time trying to catch up. Don't forget, pumpkin season is right
around the corner!
Saturday July 07, 2007 ----- I think it has rained
a little every day since the last update so I am just going to add to each day
--- Rain on days = 8 Mon, 12 Tues, 7 Wed, 7 Thurs, 4 Fri, 6 Sat and 8 Sundays
since June 1, 2006. This 'rain on days' thing is kinda silly but I have
done it for a year now and would feel bad if we just
stopped.
The maze is finished and the Blackberries are
almost done. This will be the last weekend of the Spring season to be
open. I have missed my Sunday afternoon nap and am anxious to get that
habit going again. It really has been a great spring because of all the
wonderful customers that have come out. We appreciate each and every
one. We did not set any records but considering the amount of rain we are
very pleased with the crops. Spring 2006 was pretty dismal so we are very
happy to have a good Spring this year.
Once we
close we will begin the huge task of cleaning up the joint. We can hardly
keep up with the mowing - I am sure you can relate as I bet your grass is
growing faster than you can cut it. We still have some Strawberry plastic
down that needs to be pulled up, it is too wet to get in the field right
now. That is going to be a tough job that I am not looking forward
to. Some of the Blackberries have been pruned and next week we will start
on the rest. I think we are going to relocate the Arapaho canes, redo the
beds and maybe plant another row or two of Blackberries. A few more
potatoes are needed next year so we will put them back in the 'gulf of Mexico'
area below the Texas Maze. Seems like we had a lot of interest in Tomatoes
this year so we might try to figure out a place for a few
more.
Beginning in the first of August we will devote a
lot of attention to the Fall season. Luckily we have a few years under our
belt so we have a little to go on. We really enjoy the Fall season and
look forward to it every year.
Saturday June 29, 2007 ----- We leave town for a
week to go on a Mission Trip and look what happens! Somebody left the
water faucet on! I don't know how much rain came down, but it seems like
it was a lot. I guess Tuesday night and Thursday it rained so Rain
on days = 7 Mon, 11 Tues, 6 Wed, 6 Thurs, 3 Fri, 5 Sat and 7 Sundays since June
1, 2006. Sparerib and Backbone creek behind the farm must have gotten up
15 or 20 feet. Unfortunately we had four small goats drown and much of the
back fence is laid over. The water looks like it got about 4 feet deep in
the chicken coup, luckily they roost just above that level. The Texas Maze
looks like it is finished for the spring
BUT the Blackberries are
GREAT! Not much business over the last few days has led to an abundane of
HUGE berries to pick.
I think we will be open for at least
another good week of picking. Come help us close out the year.
Friday June 15, 2007 ---- Shoot, I forgot to add the rain
on days last week. Lets see ........... I have no idea what happened
a week ago. We'll just have to skip that week. It did rain
yesterday and today so that equals Rain on days = 7 Mon, 10 Tues, 6 Wed, 5
Thurs, 3 Fri, 5 Sat and 7 Sundays since June 1, 2006.
The
Blackberries are producing pretty well, the Brazos variety is finished but the
Kiowa variety is filling the gap.
I was gone two
days last week and I guarantee the Maze grew at least a foot. Most of the
pathways have been hedged and mowed, I am pretty happy with it right now.
There are a few spots where it is between 5 and 6 feet but most of it is well
over my head now. It does get hot in there so do not try to walk it in the
afternoon. 'Brownfield' seems to be the hard city to
find.
Half the Strawberries have been removed, half to
go. Pulling the plastic is my least favorite thing to do, that is why only
half is done ----- every morning I look at the other half in hopes that it will
mysteriously go away ---- had'nt yet. Actually I am just waiting till the
grass and weeds get thick in there so it will be that much harder to get the job
done ---- yep, do things the hardest way possible seems to be my
motto.
Thursday June 7, 2007 ---- If I did not write this all my
days would run together. I wake up each morning saying "is today Sunday?
am I supposed to go to church today?".
The
Blackberries are producing well. The Brazos variety is about finished but
the Kiowa variety is in mid stream. Remember to look HIGH and LOW for
Blackberries. Most everyone picks right in front of their face, so go high
or low for the big ones.
Finally ....... we are going to
open up the Maze for pedestrians. The grass is a wee bit shorter than I
prefer but if you are 5 foot or less it is just perfect. With this warm
weather it is growing like mad and I believe it will be over 6 feet very
shortly. Normally I don't like to open it until it is at least 6 feet
because 'walkers' are more tempted to cut through the grass if you can see where
you are going. Fight the temptation!!! Are you seeing colors?
The theme for the Maze this year is "The colors of Texas", so you will be
looking for towns with a color in them: Brownfield, Red Top, Evergreen,
Orange Grove, Gold, White Hall, Silver, Red Bluff, Nickel, White Deer, Silver
Lake, Sierra Blanca.
Wednesday May 30, 2007 ---- Can May really be over? it
just started! Wow, what a rainy weekend over 4 inches here. Luckily
it rained in the afternoons so we were able to pick some berries each day.
Rain Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday = Rain on days of 8 Mon, 10
Tues, 6 Wed, 4 Thurs, 3 Fri, 6 Sat and 8 Sundays since June 1,
2006.
Strawberry season is officially over. I have
removed the plants in the front block and as soon as the back one dries out a
little we will take them out. Some people are still trying to get them but
it is very hard picking and the berries are very small. Overall it was a
great Strawberry season. After last years terrible crop we sure were
excited to see a good one this year.
Blackberries are the
name of the game right now and they sure are nice. Barring any disasters
we are looking for a good Blackberry crop as well. I appreciate everyone's
excitement, and I am glad you just can't wait to pick BUT don't start picking
on the first row you come to. If you are the first
customer of the day that would be OK but just think, how many berries are you
going to find if you start in the same place that everyone before you
started? There are lots of berries to be had but you have to walk a little
farther to get them.
'Texas' Maze ---- almost ready.
The cold April and cool May has it about 3 weeks behind schedule. It is
warm today and I think I can see it growing. When will it open?
Maybe June 9th -- it will only be about 6 feet tall, by the following week it
should be even better. The theme this year is the 'colors of Texas' ----
you will be looking for towns with a color in their name.
Thursday May 24, 2007 ---- Wow, the Blackberries have
turned on the gas, we have lots of berries for everyone to pick ----- and
it has started raining just in time to keep people away. I am glad we made
it through most of the day without rain and we did pick a lot of
Blackberries. Since this is my game I can change the rules. Rain
that falls on a Holiday weekend should count double, right? No, I guess we
will play by the rules. Rain today = Rain on days = 7 Mon, 10 Tues, 6 Wed,
4 Thurs, 2 Fri, 5 Sat and 7 Sundays since June 1, 2006.
Amazingly we are still picking Strawberries. They are surely not as
plentiful as they once were but everyone who wants to is finding a box
full.
Thursday May 17, 2007 --- Yipee! We started picking Blackberries today! The picking is pretty good but nothing like over at the Lexington Farm. The berries have gone crazy over there -wow, things are getting exciting again. Thank the Lord! it looks like a great Blackberry crop at both farms. I almost forgot our rain on days. Lets see, it rained last Thursday morning so --- Rain on days = 7 Mon, 10 Tues, 6 Wed, 3 Thurs, 2 Fri, 5 Sat and 7 Sundays since June 1, 2006.
Monday May 14, 2007 ---- Strawberries ------ on a
production roller coaster. We had lots, then a little, then a lot, now a
fair amount. They are out there it is just a little harder to find
them. One more hot day will pretty much dry the rest of the wet spots up
(except a few stubborn areas). It is important now to move those leaves
around to find your berries, gone are the days of just walking by and seeing the
berries from above. I expect to pick Strawberries through
May.
Blackberries --- we are all waiting for
them!!!!! We will start picking some Thursday like I thought --- but there
will not be enough for everyone - yet. By the following Thursday (24th)
production should be going well and I think there will be some for
everyone. When picking Blackberries, remember to look high and low.
The majority of the customers pick about eye level. I am telling you my
wife can come right behind most folks and pick a box of berries twice as ripe,
twice as big, twice as beautiful as the box of the person right in front of
her. Why? because she looks high and low, she will squat down and look up
into the bush for those extra large ones. This is the best time to utilize
your short kids and extra tall husband.
the 'Texas Maze'
is behind, drats! a cool April/May is good for me but not good for the
grass. It is starting to grow with these few warm days. I would say
it is up to my knees, maybe a little higher in some spots. South Texas,
West Texas and the Panhandle have pathways now, hopefully I will get the rest
tomorrow. What is the theme? The colors of Texas. Gotta go to a band
concert, will tell you more about the towns soon.
Tuesday May 08, 2007 ---- Done Dug. Sorry but the
taters have been dug. Boy they sure were good.
The
Strawberries are making a comeback - almost. We are picking some very nice
Strawberries now, they are not super abundant but plentiful enough to pick a box
in about 20 minutes.
Blackberries --- almost! I am
thinking about hiring an armed guard to stand watch over them. Mothers Day
Blackberries? maybe a few.
Saturday morning, May 5, 2007 --- Well, what do you
know ---- we have a good supply of very nice Strawberries to pick this
weekend. After picking a box yesterday my mom said "these berries are as
good as they have ever been!" ---- she would know because she is a champion
picker. Of course her shoes were muddy --- that is where the biggest and
ripest ones are, right by the slippery spots. There is another good spot,
where the grass is growing next to the row ---- if you find a spot where the
grass is growing over the side of the plants ---- you are certain to find a huge
berry there.
Still diggin taters.
Blackberries are much closer ---- only a matter of days before we are picking
them.
Tuesday May 1, 2007 ----- Little rain today, good bit of
rain yesterday, very few pickers either day, closed Wednesday = Thursday might
be a pretty good day to pick (in the morning and wear old shoes - it will be a
bit muddy between the rows of Strawberries). We will have some good ripe
berries, just not a ton of them. Rain on days = 7 Mon, 10 Tues, 6 Wed, 2
Thurs, 2 Fri, 5 Sat and 7 Sundays since June 1, 2006 (skipping
Dec).
Potatoes --- come quickly or we will have them all
dug. Strawberry availability was a little slim last weekend so the potato
patch got hit pretty hard. I don't expect them to last much more than the
coming weekend. (I need to get more for myself as I have only had two good meals
out of them!).
Blackberries --------- we are still waiting
for them to ripen. Each day we jump out of bed with the excitement of a
kid at Christmas ---- run out to the Blackberry patch in expectation of big
plump juicy berries only to leave with our heads hung low ---- "not ready yet"
we murmur as we head back to the house. Two weeks --- surely in two weeks
we will be picking them.
Friday April 27, 2007 --- Where did they go? Even I
did not expect the Strawberries to slow down this fast. It is a treasure
hunt in the Strawberry fields at the moment. There are still green berries
on the plants so I think we will continue to pick Strawberries through
May, just not a lot each day. Soooo, try to come early in the morning to
pick Strawberries. Berries ripen every night so there are always some to
pick in the mornings. Sunday afternoon would not be a good day to pick
Strawberries as we will probably pick the field over pretty hard on
Saturday.
the Potato digging is good though! I had
some of those red new potatoes last night ---- boy were they
good!
Come on you Blackberries!!! There is a gillion
green Blackberries out there - we just need them to get ripe. Somewhere
around May 16th we are going to start picking them. Once they start
ripening it will be an avalanche of flavor and ripeness.
Monday April 23, 2007 --- We worked the Strawberry patch
over pretty hard this past weekend. The Strawberry patch needs a few days
to recover so I think that by Thursday we should have a good selection to pick
from. Remember even though we should pick Strawberries all the way through
May (if is does not get too hot) each week there will be fewer and fewer to
choose from. The berries are a bit smaller now but they sure are
tasty. Just move those leaves around, the berries are hiding
below.
Potatoes --- we have started digging
potatoes. I haven't had a chance to eat any yet -------- but I think I
know what is on the menu for tonight.
Blackberries are
coming ------ we should be picking them by mid May. The crop looks like it
will be a good one, we are anxiously awaiting their
arrival
'Texas' the maze is a little behind ---- we are
shooting for June 1st to open it up.
Wednesday April 18th, 2007 --- We have officially entered
the rubber band stage on Strawberries. You better put rubber bands around
your socks when you come out because "there are so many Strawberries out
there they are liable to 'knock your socks off' if you don't have them strapped
on". The berry size has dwindled a bit but production is still high.
I suspect that we are now at peak of Strawberry production and supply will begin
to taper off toward the end of next week. Hopefully with this cooler
weather of late we will be able to pick Strawberries well into the end of
May.
The Blackberries are coming! The crop looks
excellent so far, hopefully we will begin picking them by mid
May.
We should be digging potatoes soon.
Speed Trap? --- be careful coming into Marble Falls.
The city is using automated cameras to track vehicle speed and a ticket will be
sent to you in the mail if you exceed the speed limit by 10 mph or more.
So please watch those speed limit signs closely!
Rain last
Fri. night late, Sat morn early. Really didn't prevent business but it
brought a front in that was cold and windy that did prevent business. So
we will just call it a rain on Sat (helps support my theory anyway), also rained
yesterday = 6 Mon, 9 Tues, 6 Wed, 2 Thurs, 2 Fri, 5 Sat and 7 Sundays
since June 1, 2006 (skipping Dec).
Monday April 9th, 2007 ---- That was close!!!! Only
by the hair of our chinny chin chin did we escape without any damage during the
Easter cold spell. I can't help but think we received a little help from
above through it all. We had lots of rain and sleet on Saturday with our
temps not getting over 36 degrees, at 6 pm it was 33 on my porch so I am amazed
we did not lose anything. So far I have not found one dead blossom on
either the Strawberry or Blackberry plants. Even the potato plants
are OK (very freeze susceptible). I think I gained at least 5 pounds
because every time I would look at the thermometer I would go eat
something. Kudos to those dedicated pickers that picked out there
Saturday. Just think, they will be able to tell the kids "yep, I remember
when we had to pick Strawberries in 30 degree weather with the rain and sleet
coming down, why we didn't want to get our good shoes muddy so we just pulled
them off and walked barefoot through the mud. I suppose it would not have
been too bad if that mud wouldn't have froze between my toes!". Actually,
you haven't tasted anything until you have had a nicely chilled Strawberry right
off the vine.
'Texas' the maze has now been
planted. All we need now is a little sunshine to grow it. Believe it
or not, it should be about 6 feet tall by the end of May.
Blackberries are still on schedule for Mid May start and Potatoes the entire
month of May. Perhaps Tomatoes by the end of May.
Rain last Saturday = 6 Mon, 8 Tues, 6 Wed, 2 Thurs, 2 Fri, 4 Sat and 7 Sundays
since June 1, 2006 (skipping Dec).
So --- all in all, looks like the picking will continue to be great. The Farm looks good. A little wet right now so wear some old shoes.
Tuesday April 3rd, 2007 ---- Rain last Wed, Thurs and
Friday = 6 Mon, 8 Tues, 6 Wed, 2 Thurs, 2 Fri, 3 Sat and 7 Sundays since June 1,
2006 (skipping Dec). My theory that it rains more on the weekends is not
being supported ------ I am going to figure a way to manipulate the data to
correspond with my 'surely I'm right' theory. You know, since it did rain
last Friday the field was wet enough that it might have well rained on Saturday
so in essence, you could say that it rained Saturday .....
right?
Strawberries, as promised, are building
steam!!! Remember ------- each box can hold about $14 worth of berries
level full ($18 piled high). As we speak there is a family out
picking with several kids. Dad showed them a spot where the berries are
over abundant ------ they are so excited that the kids have come up two times
for more boxes. That is why I am in here updating the site, I don't
want to be the one to ring out 8 boxes of Strawberries to one customer. So
the moral of this story, if you have 3 or more kids have them share a box
or else you might end up with a bunch of berries. I'm telling you, when
the picking is good it is very hard to stop picking. You are especially
doomed if you want to stop picking and you are only half way down the row.
You don't see those really big ones until you are trying to quit picking, by the
time you get that big one and the next big one and the next big one - your box
will be overflowing. Case in point, we had an elderly couple come out this
morning (their boxes were dated 2002) who said they could barely walk and didn't
know if they would get more than a half box each. I showed them a good
spot and before you know it they came out of the field with two full heaping
boxes. Their eyes were as big as silver dollars when they said "Holy Cow,
there is a ton of berries out there!".
Blackberries ----
the rain slowed down the bloom a bit ---- I think by the weekend we might have
an impressive show of blooms to take pictures with. We get afraid when
things start going good but as it stands now we are looking at a good crop of
Strawberries and Blackberries this year!
Monday March 26, 2007 ---- Row, Row, Row your boat,
gently down the Strawberry aisle. Merrily, Merrily, Merrily,
merrily, life is but a strawberry pickin dream. (can you sing
that with me ...................... ha, now that tune will be stuck in
your head the rest of the day!). Whew, we have been open 5 days now,
guess 18, 2007 --- how many have had rain or rain forecasted? That's right
- all 5. We have not had that much rain until today ----but we have
had plenty today to make up for all the other days combined. Rain
last Wednesday, some Thursday, some yesterday and lots today brings our
rain-on totals to: 6 Mon, 8 Tues, 5 Wed, 1 Thurs, 1 Fri, 3 Sat and 7 Sundays
since June 1, 2006 (skipping Dec).
We can't do anything
about the rain so we might as well like it. Actually it has been good in
that the Strawberries are just starting to produce so there is not enough for a
big crowd of people ----- yet. Believe me, the berries are coming and
before you know it we will be covered in them.
Suppose the
rain stops tonight --- it will take a day or two for the field to dry enough to
get into. So I would say Thursday morning should be the next best time to
come pick Strawberries (remember we are closed all
Wednesdays).
Blackberries ---- lookin good! By this
time next week the 'Brazos' variety should be covered in blooms. I can't
believe it but they should be ready to pick in a little over a
month!
Monday March 19, 2007 --- Well, I accurately predicted
that when we open it would go to raining. Rain last Tues and Wed.,
drizzling this morning = rain on days of: 5 Mon, 8 Tues, 4 Wed, 0 Thurs, 1 Fri,
3 Sat and 6 Sundays since June 1, 2006 (skipping Dec).
YES! we are going to open tomorrow! in the
rain? I think the rain is going to hold off until later in the week.
Tomorrows picking should be pretty good. The first berries are a little
fewer and farther between but since the plants are not huge yet you can see the
berries easily. The plants are loaded up with berries, things can change
in a heartbeat but so far it looks like we might have a good season.
Monday March 12, 2007 --- My gauge runneth over (well not
mine, it is still busted from the last freeze we had --- but my neighbors flowed
over the 4 inch mark). It rained Sunday night pretty hard and we have a
good bit of water standing here today. That brings the rain on totals to:
4 Mon, 7 Tues, 3 Wed, 0 Thurs, 1 Fri, 3 Sat and 6 Sundays since June 1, 2006
(skipping Dec). Since we are about to open I expect those rainy weekend
days to go way up.
I put on the front page that we would
be opening up around March 20th ---- maybe behind would be a better guess.
We have berries coming - ---- but when are they going to be ripe? It
won't be long ---- it better be because I have just about licked my lips of
getting ready for those little bundles of goodness.
Seems
like everything is starting to put out. Are we past the last freeze??????
The Pecan and Mesquite trees around my house haven't budded out yet - we'll have
to watch the forecasts pretty closely.
Monday March 05, 2007 ---- Chilly! It is right cold here
this morning (that would be why I am in the warm office updating this!
<pause> sorry, I had to turn up the heater). The Strawberry plants
are all covered up, they should be OK under there. The covers only give us
6 to 8 degrees of protection, I am sure we lost a few blooms under the covers
lets hope it was not too many. The little green berries can actually take
colder temps than the blossoms so I expect all of them to be OK.
Sorry, I just don't think the berries are going to be
ready by Spring Break. It looks like we will be opening sometime around
the 20th (first day of Spring). We'll keep you
posted.
Gotta go, the wife got some chickens in the mail
so I better make them a warm place to stay.
Wednesday February 28, 2007 --- Things are really heating
up here (in more ways than one). Monday and Tuesday were in the low 80's,
I even broke a sweat. Every year I always say something like "boy, if I am
sweating now - how will I survive when it is a 100 degrees?". Perhaps you
have said the same thing?
I believe if we stood
still long enough we could see the Strawberry plants growing. They really
are turning on the gas! We have a few little green berries, a decent
supply of open blooms, and a multitude of blooms about to open up. The
next two weeks will be a critical time for the Strawberry crop. We will
have to watch the weather very closely as the worst thing that could happen
would be a freeze sneaking up on us without covers
deployed.
It is also very dry here. We have not had
a rain in the month of February and I am surely worried that it will go to
raining in March and not stop --- that would be the second worst thing to happen
to us (well a Hail storm might be the worst, freeze second, very wet spring
third ----- now that I think of it (maybe I shouldn't think of it) there is lots
of worst things that could happen to us). --------------- lets
change the subject,
I have noticed some of Buds on
the Blackberry canes beginning to swell. They will put out some greenery
first before blooming. I don't think they will bloom till the end of
March.
Monday February 19, 2007 --- Grow Baby Grow! This
week of warm weather will put a fire under those Strawberry plants
behinds. We pulled off some of the covers today and what did we
find? quite a few blooms. They are not blooming prolifically yet,
but will soon if we get more than this week of mild temps. Before you know
it we will be picking those red jewels.
I have not
updated the "rain on" totals lately because it hasn't 'rained on' us in quite a
while. We have had a few drizzles but nothing significant. I tried
to dig a hole today and realized just how dry it was. Who would have
thought we would be drying out like this after an extremely wet January.
Tuesday February 13, 2007 ---- Have you ate up all those
frozen Strawberries you had in the freezer from last years crop? We have a
few blooms out there and before you know it we will be picking those red ripe
berries. Normally it takes about 30 days to go from bloom to fruit but
this roller coaster weather pattern should lengthen that time a bit.
Winter just won't give up as we continue to have cold nights.
We planted a few taters over the weekend. We moved
their location from previous years so don't be alarmed when you notice they are
not in their normal spot. If all goes well we will be digging potatoes in
mid May.
Wednesday February 7, 2007 --- Wow, what a day today was weather wise (I feel so shallow - all I can talk about is the weather!) it was 80 degrees here today. All is well here, the Strawberry plants are feeling a little frisky with the warm weather --- we can see a little bit of growth taking place and there are a ton of flower buds down in the crown just waiting to pop open. Who knows, maybe in a couple of weeks we will be picking ripe berries --- just depends on the weather and if we don't get caught by a sudden freeze with uncovered plants. The more I write, the more I realize what needs to be done now and very soon ---- since it is bed time I am going to stop writing here or I won't get a wink of sleep tonite ---- now, where is my cuddly stuffed tractor????
Wednesday January 24, 2007 --- Rain yesterday and today = 4 Mon, 7 Tues, 3 Wed, 1 Fri, 3 Sat and 5 Sundays. It has been drizzling just enough to keep things a mess. Since my rain gauge froze and busted last week I don't know how much rain we have gotten. It seems that a lot of people must have lost their gauges too because the hardware store is all out of them. Right now everything is looking good, the patch is such a mess (muddy) that we hate to drive around and make ruts everywhere. It sounds like we have some very cold air coming late next week. If it dries out enough for us to get in, we will probably put out covers. The plants are not actively blooming yet but they are getting ready to and we don't want them to be set back. Spring is coming and I am not ready!
Saturday January 20, 2007 --- I can barely write, I
decided to get on my wife's stair stepper -- whew! my heart is
pumping. Before you say how out of shape I am you should
realize I probably just went up 100 flights of stairs. I bet I gave that
stair stepper a work out it hasn't seen in a long time.
It
rained last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday a little yesterday and drizzling this
morning = 4 Mon, 6 Tues, 2 Wed, 1 Fri, 3 Sat, 5 Sunday since June 1st.
(skipping Dec). We have had a few calls asking if the recent ice storm
hurt the Strawberries and the answer is 'Nope'. No doubt, we had lots of
ice but really the temperature did not go that low. I don't think we got
much lower than the upper 20's all week. Remember, the plants won't
sustain much damage until the temps drop into the upper teens. If this
year is like many before, we should have a little warm up in the next week or
two. The days will be nice and sunny with lows in the upper 30s/low 40s
and highs in the 60s. Four or five days of that weather coupled with a
little longer daylength, will cause the plants to start blooming. We will
try to protect these blooms because they will be killed by freezing temps
(as we tell the little kids on the field trips "the flower eventually turns into
the fruit, so if we lose the flower we lose future fruit). Normally right
after that warm up we will have a significant cold spell. That cold spell
is where we will put out frost covers. These covers are 50' * 300' and
will give us about 6 - 8 degrees of protection. We can cover almost all 3
acres of plants. Putting out the covers sounds daunting but it really is
not that bad. What we don't want is cold and rain. The covers are
very hard to work with when wet and take a long time to dry out. So lets
get all the rain out of the way now, while it is OK.
Saturday January 13, 2007 --- Oh man, I almost forgot to
keep our "rain on" days. It seems that when we shut the farm gate for the
winter along with it went my brain. I do know that we ended up November
with no rain events which had us standing at: 3 Mondays, 5 Tuesdays, 1
Wednesday, 1 Saturday and 4 Sundays since June 1st, 2006. December seems
like a blur to me and I have no idea if or when it rained. Anyone
out there keep the rainfall totals on a little calendar posted on the wall above
the little table in the kitchen? Until I can find the data for December we will
just skip it and continue on with January. We had 2" of rain on Wednesday
the 3rd, a slight bit yesterday and it is raining now. So that officially
brings us to 3 Mon, 5 Tues, 2 Wed, 1 Friday, 2 Sat and 4 Suns since June 1st,
2006 (excluding December 2006). If you are thinking "What is this all
about?" We are testing my theory that it rains more on the weekends than any
other time. I know, it doesn't seem to be holding up right now but just
wait till we open up the farm in the Spring --- those weekend rain days will go
up dramatically.
I went over to Lexington yesterday to
spray some grass that is growing between the rows of Strawberries. We did
have a 30% chance of rain but in my mind that meant we had a 70% chance it would
not rain and since the temps were mild the grass should be actively growing
therefore increasing the uptake of the herbicide. You know it, it rained
right when I finished. Oh well. The Deer damage there is quite
extensive, we will still make Strawberries there but we will have to see how
they grow out of it before we can say if and how much the Deer hurt
us.
Here in Marble Falls we have a little better fence and
have been able to keep most of the Deer out. We do have one pesky little
bugger that I can't figure out how is getting in. Other than a small
amount of Deer damage, the Strawberry plants are looking good. I am glad
we are going to get a little cold weather in the next few days because the
plants are poised to bloom. We want them to wait until Feb. 1st to bloom,
this would place in position to open in the first half of March (right on
schedule).
Monday January 01, 2007 ----- 07, 07, 07, 07, 2007,
2007, 2007, 2007, 2007, 07, 07, 2007, '07 ---- I am trying a new technique this
year --- by prewriting 2007 several times I might just train myself to write the
date correctly the first time during this month.
We
have had a wonderful Holiday season and we hope you have had the same. Not
too much is happening on the farm right now. We have almost finished
cleaning up after the past Fall pumpkin season. The goats are eating the
last of the leftover pumpkins now. A few more things need to be put away
and the farm will be ready for the upcoming Strawberry season. The
Strawberry plants are in pretty good shape right now. They are not growing
much on the top but you can be sure that they are establishing a root
system. It would be nice for us to get a week or two of cold weather right
now. We have had a few cold spells so far this winter but nothing
sustained. If I could order up the weather I would ask for a couple of
days of freezing weather to kill some bugs and fulfill a dormancy period in the
plants. I know one thing for sure, we will live with what we get.
Every year is a little different and it keeps us on our toes. As soon as
we have it figured out, something changes.
I went
over to the Lexington farm last week and found quite a bit of Deer damage.
It seems that the Deer in that area have been having a party at our
expense. The Strawberry plants in Lexington have been the main course on
the salad bar. UGGGHHHHH. Those deer better watch out or they are going to
be someone else's' main course.
One thing for sure, the
Blackberry plants at both farms are looking good. Even though last year
was a low production year, the Blackberries are pretty consistent. Not too
many years will go by that we don't at least have a 50% crop of
Blackberries.
Thanks again for sharing in the farm with us
in the past, we hope that you will continue to share it with us in the
future. Happy New Year!!!
For Fresh News from previous years, just click the link below:
Somewhere along the way we lost Fresh News 2000. I have some old pc's in the barn, maybe I can find it there.