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
(Burlington) From chilly and slow to hot and dry: it must be spring on the farm. Despite a cold winter and not a lot of snow cover we had a lot of crimson clover overwinter, surprising me, and I am happy for the early blooming pollination resource.
Field vegetables are looking good, albeit a bit slower than normal. We lost our first round of spinach to seedcorn maggots and are seeing some onion losses to maggots and/or their subsurface associates in beds that followed a clover sod. Leafminers are showing up and I've seen a few CPBs crawling around.
I'm mostly looking forward to starting our summer CSA next week. Demand is strong, but with the slower spring our selection for week one isn't quite what we'd like it to be, though reasonable with salad mix, kale, PYO cilantro, and hopefully head lettuce and tunnel cucumbers. Week one is half reunion and orientation, so selection seems to matter less than in successive weeks. Trying to up our game with more farming and ag info at our CSA distribution, we'll see if we can stick with it through the busy summer.
(Hinesburg) April farmstand sales were slow. May farmstand sales better. Some interesting temp data from 2 weeks ago: Outside temp was 26 degrees. Inside hoop house with no row cover was 28 degrees; pole beans damaged but now recovering. Inside hoop house, under 2 layers row cover was 44 degrees; no damage to cukes, pepper, tomatoes.
Cool season crops are growing and selling well. Over-wintered onions showing thrips damage. Seems like they find the onions earlier each year. Treated with nematodes; seems to have slowed the thrips down. Irrigating every day.
(E. Wallingford) Early and mid-season blueberries are in full bloom; late blueberries coming out of pink bud. Bees are working hard. Planted 100 peach and plum bareroot and dormant trees in late April; all but one tree have leafed out and pushing new growth. Could use some rain. Very little frost/freeze damage at this elevation, blueberries were not in major bloom yet. Land is ready to plant veggies and 120-day pumpkins.
(East Dorset) The 2023 freeze shows about a 25% blueberry crop blueberry loss for us at this point. More damage in the earlier varieties. It is also a preliminary look at the crop. We will see how it ends up after the summer.
(Grand Isle) The recent cold snap did not hit the Lake Champlain islands as severe as other areas. We had a bit of frost, there were patches here and there. The blueberries are entering petal fall stage and the pollination looks excellent. Monitored and kept track of pollinators this year, 98% bumble bees. Did a 10-minute scout every other day and counted 30-40 bees.
(Richmond) We had a hard frost of 21 degrees here on May 17. Our Bluecrop blueberries were in full bloom with lots of pollinators out and about. Looked like quite a few blossoms were brown the next day and we are starting to see those flowers/blueberries shrivel and fall off. The rest of our blueberries were in late bud stage, so we were unsure about the impact but now they are in full bloom, and it looks to be a strong crop. Lots of pollinator action which is always great to see with a variety of pollinators in the fields. Busy trying to stay on top of weed control and installing irrigation in our fields.
(Fairfax) May 17: low 20’s in the strawberry fields. Started irrigating at 9 pm, and ice finally melted off the berries about 11 am. About 14 hours that night. From May 7 to 17 had over 40 hours of frost protection. Flowers look good, the plants not so much. Some winter injury and extreme temps this spring hasn’t been great. 30 years of growing strawberries and 7 sleepless nights of frost protection. The most I can remember, but my memory isn’t so good anymore. Last year was the best year for strawberries of the 30. This year won’t be so good. Lessons learned. Success irrigating sweet corn transplants in the low 20’s. Asparagus melted even with the irrigation.
(Westminster West) We were fortunate not to have lost anything from the killing freeze two weeks ago and were happy to be able to supply plants to some growers that lost theirs. Found CPB on our early tunnel potatoes yesterday. Other than that, this trial looks good so should have new potatoes for 4th of July sales. Garlic crop looks the best in many years with virtually no losses over the winter and strong growth with scapes just starting to poke up.
Plant sales are very strong, and farmers’ markets have set records each market day so far; nice weather certainly helps. We tripled our potato acreage this year, with 9 varieties, if I don’t lose the map, I may be able to find them all! Trying to get the squash acreage in this week. Have increased scale and added new varieties due to market demand. Tunnel celery and tomatoes are growing well. Water may become an issue. I’m hoping to get a new well before the season ends.
REMINDER TO REPORT VERMONT SURFACE WATER WITHDRAWALS
Becky Maden, UVM Extension Vegetable Nutrient Management Specialist
If you irrigate from a river, stream, lake, or natural pond, you likely need to comply with Vermont’s surface water bill (Act 135). You are required to report estimated use if your farm withdraws 10,000 gallons or more of surface water within a 24-hour period in the preceding calendar year, or 150,000 gallons or more of surface water over any 30-day period.
If your farm requested a meter, we expect to install them soon. In the meantime, estimate water use by recording acres irrigated, run time, and irrigation specs (sprinkler type or drip emitter spacing). For support with estimating usage, contact me at rebecca.maden@uvm.edu. If you have questions about the regulation or reporting, contact Ryan Patch at the VT Agency of agriculture, Ryan.Patch@vermont.gov.
UPCOMING ON-FARM EVENTS
Tuesday, July 18, 4-6 pm. VVBGA workshop at Burnt Rock Farm in Huntington. Topics: Small scale veg farm equipment, efficient fertilizing, root crops, irrigation.
POLLINATOR UPDATES
Laura Johnson, UVM Extension Pollinator Support Specialist
How do pollinators respond to flowers killed by frost? Pollen is likely still present on flowers, and even with tissue freeze damage, remaining pollen can still be nutritious, and may even viable. If stigmas or ovaries are damaged by the freeze, then flowers are not likely to produce fruit. A Michigan State University blueberry pollinator study over 15 years examined impacts of freezes on blueberry crops and wild bee populations. Specialist bees, like the Carolina miner bee, Andrena Carolina, and other miner bees (which are abundant on Vermont berry and tree fruit crops) showed population declines in subsequent seasons. Other, non-Andrena species of bees showed resilience and did not decline due to freeze. It is encouraging that species showing declines eventually partially rebounded. Pollinator declines resulting from a freeze event during bloom likely won’t be seen until subsequent years.