Boardtown Organics

It's been a while since our last blog but here's what going on at Boardtown.......

• Our Tamworths are ready to go to the processor!!! We are just waiting on the labels to get approved by the Ms Dept of Ag!
• Our young Red Star birds that we raised from chicks have started laying, so we now have a good supply of fresh eggs!
• We've disc the first field of the year to help it dry-out a little faster and hope to make our first plantings in a week or two.
• We have another batch of meat birds started and they should be available around the middle of May.

Well, the first plantings have done their thing and we're in the lull between plantings.  I can't say we don't need the rest....until the second planting starts producing anyway!  We expect the second plantings will start producing in about 4 weeks.

We just finished up processing another batch of meat birds and supplies are already low.  We have a few whole birds left and a few individual breasts and thighs remaining.  Our next batch will be processed towards the end of August.

We've received several requests about adding pork to our offerings.  If we decide to proceed with this venture.....we will offer Heritage breed hogs that will be raised on grass.  As with the meat birds we currently sell, Heritage breed hogs' meat is moister and tastier than the factory animals in the grocery store.  Until we make the decision, we would love to hear your comments.

Thanks everyone for you support and encouragement!  Greg

We have now started accepting members for the Spring, Summer and Fall CSA!  Please check our website for the details.

I would like to remind everyone that we will have bushel, half bushel and peck size quanitites of your favorite veggies available for sale like tomatoes, peas, eggplant, squash, beans, peppers, etc.

Our meat  birds turned out great!  There's only a few left but we will be ordering some more chicks in a few weeks.

Again, I would like to thank everyone for their support!!!  Greg

YEAH.....CSA!!!!

This past week's market was going very well until the thunderstorm came through!!!  We had our largest selection of crops available so far this year and sales were brisk.

This coming market, 6/20/09, we should have the following:

     Heirloom Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Little Finger Eggplant, Yellow Squash, Green Zucchini, Golden Zucchini, Pattypan Squash, Cayenne Peppers, Bell Peppers, Hot Wax Peppers and a few Jalapeno Peppers.

A storm came through last Friday that caused a lot of damage to the crops!  Several eggplant and pepper plants were broken or laying down. 

We look forward to seeing you at this weekend's market!!!!

     I was considering getting some baby chicks this fall and raise them through the winter so that they would begin laying eggs next spring.  Well, I ran across a very good deal on 86 Rhode Island Red baby chicks this past Saturday........to say the least, we are the proud owners of a small flock!  They will be raised on grass/pasture without growth hormones or other harmful chemicals. 

     We should have brown eggs and meat for sale by the middle of October.  If you would like to be notified when they're available, just let us know and we will add you to our email list!!!

  Well, for the first 17 days of May, it has rained 11 of 'em!!!!  Boy, it sure is wet!!!  The field crops either died or were stunted so I plan to replant as soon as it dries up.  With the weatherman is calling for rain this weekend, who knows when it will dry up!!! 

  The container vegetables are doing pretty good but they didn't like all the rain either!  The tomatoes are inbetween golfball and tennisball size.  All the peppers are blooming and even have small peppers on them.  The lettuces are growing like weeds, the squash and zucchini have small fruits on them, and the eggplants are forming blooms!  I just transplanted four varieties of cucumbers into containers and still have several varieties of peppers to transplant.  If not for the containers, we would still be scratching our heads wondering what to do!!!!  Greg

  The first Farmer's Market of the year has come and gone!!!!  Since this was our first Market ever, we didn't know what to expect.  With the Market opening so early, we were limited on items for sale.  We only had a few Romaine and Black Seeded Simpson lettuces and a variety of tomato seedlings. 

  I was pleasantly surprised to meet several followers of the blog at the Market...........Thanks again!!!!

  Another surprise was my idea to grow the lettuces in containers and bring the containers to the Market.  This allowed the customer to pick the head they wanted and it was harvested for them right there.  The few containers that were not sold, were taken back to the farm and we will offer them for sale at the next Market.  This solves the dilemma of "How much do you cut???"!  There's no waste thus allows us to keep the prices lower!!!!

  For this week's Market, we will have the following "Certified Naturally Grown" items:

    baby romaine lettuce, baby Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, Mizuna (an Asian Green), tomato seedlings (many of them heirloom varieties), and we will have a special price on cayenne pepper seedlings!

  Thanks again for all the support and I hope to see you this week at the Market!!!

     We made it through the last little cold snap in pretty good shape!  The cucumbers didn't make it but everything else looks great! 

     A lot of the tomatoes are blooming and should have vine ripe tomatoes around the first of June!!!  I can't wait for a "Home Grown" BLT!!! 

     We are currently installing the irrigation system for the container vegetables.  This will save us a lot of time watering and will also save on the water bill!

     Stay tuned for the update!!  Thanks for following us!!

Planting Time is Here!!!

     After a very wet spring so far, we managed to get one of our fields dry enough to plant.  Here's the list of what's in the ground:

• Crookedneck Squash
• Straightneck Squash
• Green Zucchini
• Golden Zucchini
• Spaghetti Squash
• Blue Lake Pole Beans
• Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
• Straight 8 Cucumbers
• Marketmore Cucumbers
• Okra
• Black Beauty Eggplant
• Little Finger Eggplant
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower

     In containers, we have 7 varieties of tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, red cabbage, green cabbage, napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, and bell peppers.  We still have seedlings in the greenhouse that are not quite ready for the outdoor world. 

     Stay tuned and we will keep you informed of the progress as our crops grow!!!!!  Greg

     The recent rains have the farm pretty mushy and with the weatherman predicting more rain every couple of days!  It sure looks like we'll be late in getting things planted.........but we'll do everything possible to get it in! 

     The tomatoes in the greenhouse are doing great.......just need to get them in the ground.  The squash and zucchini that are in the greenhouse might just take over if it doesn't dry up, and we have to get the cucumbers out before they start running!

     Currently, we have planted broccoli, cauliflower, green cabbage, red cabbage, and russet potatoes in the ground.  Stay tuned for our progress.

Well, it didn't take long to start running out of room in the greenhouse!  So far, I have almost 5000 seeds planted...and about 1/3rd of them have germinated. 

Here's a list of the seedlings so far:

     Tomatoes - Beefsteak, Rutgers, Brandywine, Yellow Brandywine,   Yellow Perfection, Matt's Wild Cherry, Nepal, Moskvich, Green Zebra, Roma

     Peppers - Golden California Wonder Bells, Habanero, Cayenne

     Eggplant - Black Beauty, Little Fingers

     Cabbage - Invento, Red Express

     Broccoli - Belstar

     Cauliflower - Snowball

I'll have to pay close attention to the temps in the greenhouse!!!!!!  I'd hate to loose all of these plants!

     Well, two days after the cold temps it turned warm....too warm!  On a mid-50's day - the greenhouse got up to 110 before I could vent the heat.......The heat took care of the cauliflower and broccoli.  I need to hurry up and learn how to regulate the temps or I'll be buying seedlings this year!

     The Rutger's tomatoes just started coming up along with some more broccoli an cauliflower.  No peppers, lettuce, eggplants or cabbage yet but we're having some really warm weather so things should start popping up everyday!

     Until next time........Greg

     Well, the first seeds of the year have germinated.....a few Beefsteak tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce mix, and Roma tomatoes.  The weather has been causing a lot of problems so far....very cold temps!  My small heaters can't keep up and the seeds are very slow to germinate.  Tonight's low is going to be 19 and 20 for tomorrow night.

     Today, the greenhouse had to endure 30 to 35 mile an hour gusts and it took a beating but made it through.  I'm glad I used the 1" pvc instead of 3/4! 

     Buy your fresh veggies from farmers that are Certified Naturally Grown!!!!.......Greg