April 1, 2022
Compiled by Vern Grubinger, University of Vermont Extension
https://www.uvm.edu/extension/horticulture/commercial
(802) 257-7967 ext. 303, vernon.grubinger@uvm.edu
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD
(Barnet) Our high tunnels are full of direct seeded mustard greens and spinach as well as Paperpot radish, salad turnips, cilantro, claytonia, lettuce, spinach, bok choi and radish. We spent the cold snap triple covering in our unheated tunnels. Everything did well and is now ready for the upcoming warm weather. Tomato grafts look great and tons of Paperpot trays are planted and growing for field planting.
We have field greens up that were seeded last week, and silage tarped for germination. We transitioned those to row cover and are pleased with the germination.
(Westminster) Our greenhouses are bursting with transplants so with luck it won’t be too long before the fields dry out. Then we’ll be spreading manure and compost and plowing and harrowing. Green, red and lacinata kale, and lettuce – red and green leaf, romaine and buttercrunch lettuce, and collards will be the first to be planted. We usually start transplanting mid-April, so we’re pretty much on time.
We’re planning on the same crop mix as last year, except no celeriac and less broccoli – both had disease problems. We are planting more root crops because our new packing line is running very efficiently; it still requires the same number of workers to run it, but we can move more produce through it.
We’re still selling carrots, black radish, and purple daikon from last year; that helps with cash flow this time of year. We hope fuel prices will start easing, but we did fill our off-road diesel tanks just as prices started to rise, so that helped. There aren’t many local people applying for work and we’re looking for more. Looks like we’ll be more dependent than ever on H-2A employees.
(Guildhall) Not too much to report this month. Potato sales continue steady, with some varieties finally selling out (golds, yellows, and reds). We've got 250,000 lbs. left in storage, hopefully will get it all moved soon. Spring comes slow; will be a while yet before we're on the ground.
(Westminster West) Garlic is up and we removed two layers of remay covering the field. Some tipburn from cold damage, it was an extremely cold winter. Mud season was the worst since last mud season! Busy in the propagation house, transplanting celery, tomatoes etc. Ran a soil test on the potting mix, very acid this year so adding some pulverized lime in the mixer. Lucky, I filled all heating tanks last fall so haven't had to deal with fuel costs yet, but that will happen soon.
One of the tunnels has a high salt content in soil, trying to mitigate that with soaking water and a lot of peat added to the beds. Next summer we will remove the plastic for the rain to really flush it out.
(Hinesburg) Greens growing and selling well. Spinach and Claytonia with a few others coming on. Piecing together the markets for the product so far so good this spring. Some restaurants have fallen off ordering and others have emerged. Farmstand opens today. CSA starts in another week. Crew is great. Juggling projects with the changing weather.
(Elmore) High tunnel is heating up. First red currant bushes are being propagated as hardwood cuttings in the high tunnel beds. Forsythia blooming in the high tunnel. Covering the beds with cardboard so the weeds will not get light and hoping to plant spinach and Chinese cabbages soon in the high tunnel.
Pruned many large apple trees. Collected scionwood from our best trees for three hours the last sunny day we had. Lots of nice buds on the fruit trees, including paw paws. Got to keep the rare and best pear trees going! We name them after the towns in Vermont where they were discovered. Hoping for some good crops of exotics. Being a pioneer is one of the most satisfying things we do on the farm.
(Pownal) My wife and I have finished pruning all of our main crops of blueberries and raspberries. Big job for just two people but enjoyed being able to be outside and seeing our two English Setters being able to patrol the rows once again.
Our stockpiled mulch chips are still frozen so when the sun and warmer temps help us we will start spreading. Seems like spring start up requires lots of labor and time. And sometime between berry work the two large gardens will need plowing and tilling in the winter rye crop. We sure have noticed the price increases this past year on everything from fertilizer to garden seeds even berry baskets. The increase cost probably will require our price for berries to go up this year, which is something we do not want to do. Also, in this spring we have 100 more raspberries ordered for pick up in early May. Planting should go smoothly if weather cooperates.
VVBGA SPRING WEBINARS ARE POSTED
You can view these webinars, and many more from previous years, on the VVBGA YouTube Channel. This spring the topics ranged from Farm First to promoting pollinators to invasive pests to employee management. Check them out.
PEST MANAGEMENT RESARCH UPDATES
Scott Lewins and Vic Izzo, UVM
It’s spring and despite the remnants of snow, many of us are deep into seeding and planning for the upcoming growing season. What better way to warm up from one of coldest Januarys on record than with an update on our latest pest management projects! Check out our research update at https://go.uvm.edu/vepart2021 with results from these research projects:
• Pre‐ and Post‐Harvest Strategies for leek moth Control on Diversified Vegetable Farms
• Cultural and biological control tactics for the management of wireworms in root crops
• Evaluation of swede midge tolerance and resistance among four popular kale varieties
• Vermont Pest Scouting and Monitoring Program