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Vermont Vegetable and Berry News – July 2024

Compiled by Vern Grubinger, University of Vermont Extension 
(802) 656-7534,
vernon.grubinger@uvm.edu 

https://www.uvm.edu/extension/horticulture/commercial 

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

(Guildhall) Been a disappointing month over here. On July 11 the Connecticut River came up again (repeat of 2023) and wiped out 14 acres, the usual 25% we plant on low land. But then it came up 3 or 4 feet higher than last summer and took a 5-acre field that shouldn't flood. The water sat for 72 hours. So, 19 acres flooded, representing 36% of the crop. Pretty bleak. Potato plants melted into the ground immediately.

The good news: there's still 33 acres of potatoes, which were looking great before the flood, and are now being pampered with weekly foliar feedings of boron, magnesium, kelp, and every other thing I can think of. All based on weekly petiole sampling.

Looking to the future, we’re making some big changes. These summer floods are no longer 10 or more years apart. Switching from a 4-year rotation to a 3-year will allow us to avoid planting on the floodplain. Potatoes are too expensive to plant there (particularly with increased fertilizer prices), there’s rarely seed available in July for replanting, and breaking down/cleaning of planting equip takes at least a week. I think we can keep up good practices up on a 3-year rotation, including a fallow third year in a cover crop.

Lastly, if you need potatoes for your CSA, farmstand or store this fall, call me. Keeping our potatoes out of the produce terminal and moving more to better paying markets is going to make all the difference this year. Be safe out there y’all. Matthew Linehan, Sparrow Arc Farm, sparrowarcfarm@gmail.com or 207-323-4439

(Burlington) What we've learned from two years of July flooding: eggplant appears to be more flood tolerant than most vegetables, surviving inundation and bouncing back to produce new flowers and fruit two years' running. Most peppers, potatoes, and cucurbits are losers along with annual herbs and beans. Tomatoes, brassicas, and sunflowers are intermediate. Onions are frustratingly flood tolerant: but we lose them to food safety concerns when they flood. By the time we can get the plastic out of the crop they've ripened up to good looking bulbs, this year with very low thrips counts and no sign of downy mildew. Alas. In the flower garden, verbena is a winner, zinnias are pretty good too. Snapdragons and calendula suffered.

Our tunnels have been a key to our success for many years, but the past two summers have driven that point home, allowing us to continue harvesting popular cucumbers and tomatoes into the fall. Combined with a little patch of unflooded ground we've been able to stay in salad crops and fresh herbs. Taken together with the stored crops rescued from flooding we have produced good CSA shares and expect to be able to do so for the season as the replanted field crops start to mature in September.

We are looking hard at our crop mix and thinking about which crops have too long a season with lots of stranded costs (e.g. onions, celeriac), and considering crops we aren't growing now that might be a good hedge in the event we are flooded like sweet corn (tall), summer romaine (quick), summer baby spinach (even quicker). We are hearing mostly support from our CSA members, though we will see if two flood summers will shrink our retention and signup more than it did for this spring.

Just like it is rarely good to make headlines, it stinks to have useful experience preparing for floods, though we immediately thought about how we could do better next time. Farm on!

(Marlboro) Raspberries are mostly done. Taylor is still producing a few and then we wait for the late Prelude crop. Blueberry yield is smaller than last year. First Spinosad spray was 7/24 (one day later than last year). Hoping to get a few more weeks. We wonder if the dry season means a bit less SWD pressure? Also, not seeing a lot of Japanese Beetles (but knock on wood, probably jinxed it). The ExcludeNet portion of the blueberry field still looks great. Late variety is coming along nicely with no SWD. Great growing year for veggies, and good response at the farm stand.

(Grand Isle) Very good blueberry crop this year. Will be done in another 10-14 days. Japanese beetle population was down considerably. Unsure if covering the grass areas with plastic decreased the population, we think it made the difference, but no way to know for sure. Years past when picking berries there would be a cloud of beetles emerging from the plants. This year we must look for beetles. We are collecting on average about 100 beetles a day.

NOW’S THE TIME FOR PERENNIAL FRUIT LEAF ANALYSIS

Leaf analysis (aka tissue or foliar analysis) is better than soil testing for determining an optimal fertilization program for berries and tree fruit because it reveals exactly what the plant has succeeded in taking up. (Soil tests are still necessary for monitoring soil pH.)  Leaves should be analyzed when fully mature but before they begin to senesce. Early to mid-August is a good time to sample most crops. Lab options include Dairy One (comes with Cornell recommendations), Penn State, and many land grant university soil test labs.

UPDATES FROM UVM EXTENSION AG ENGINEERING

Andy Chamberlin, UVM Extension

A new post-harvest case study features a DIY conversion of a shipping container for a wash pack space. Explore this project with a 360 tour, video interview and photos of special features in our latest blog post at https://go.uvm.edu/asctuneyharvest. Lauren Mucha and Oliver Owen own and operate Ascutney Harvest in Ascutney, Vermont. Their half-acre market garden consists mostly of mixed vegetables and herbs which require washing and packing before heading off to two different farmers markets and a few wholesale vendors. They are fairly new to this land and needed a quick and affordable improvement to their wash/pack area.

TAKE THE TICK SURVEY, VISIT THE TICK INFO CENTER

Ticks and tickborne diseases are increasing in Vermont. Scientists at the UVM Entomology Research Laboratory are gathering information about ticks on farms (of all types) and farmers deal with them. Insights gained will help develop resources and strategies to minimize risk of tick bites. Please complete this 5-10 minute survey: https://qualtrics.uvm.edu/jfe/form/SV_00nshllEvEdmldc. Visit the UVM Tick Information Center https://site.uvm.edu/vt-tic/ for more information. Questions? Cheryl Sullivan at cfrank@uvm.edu

Return to Agriview September 2024