From john at seldomseenfarm.com Thu Jul 2 03:22:26 2009 From: john at seldomseenfarm.com (John Ferree) Date: Thu Jul 2 03:29:49 2009 Subject: [SeldomSeenFarm] Tomatoes for the 4th Message-ID: <4A4C8A62.2000906@seldomseenfarm.com> Both the Broad Ripple and Traders Point markets are still open this weekend. Broccoli is just starting to head out and everything is coming in late. . . but the tomatoes are on time. I suspect we will have plenty for the market Saturday morning, but we'll have to see what comes out of the greenhouse this afternoon. Available This Week Arugula? Tomatoes! Purple Peppers - believe it Salad Mix Cilantro Basil Parsley Bouquets Beets Summer Squash Broccoli (very ltd quantities) Asian Seedless Cucumbers Pea Shoots Swiss Chard From john at seldomseenfarm.com Fri Jul 17 03:03:37 2009 From: john at seldomseenfarm.com (John Ferree) Date: Fri Jul 17 03:13:17 2009 Subject: [SeldomSeenFarm] Rolling Debates Message-ID: <4A604C79.3090509@seldomseenfarm.com> There are a number of rolling debates that pop up on the farm each year. These debates range from fertilizer application for flowers to long term marketing strategy. The one that Kelly and I have been playing with lately is this. . . What is the relationship between price and purchased quantity? If we can reduce our cost to produce a given item, and then reduce the purchase price of the same item. . . will it result in a greater quantity sold? The item in question is (of course) salad mix. It is the greatest labor consumer of anything we produce. It is also our #1 annual seller. We're selling at 10/#, excluding the Earthbound Farms bulk mixes, we're comperable to pricing at Kroger and Marsh (~$9/#). If fuel prices spike like last year we're selling under grocery store retail, and even our below par batches have greater shelf life and taste then the Cali stuff. But what if we could take our processing time from 10#/hour to 25#/hour? A 40% increase in efficiency? It would be possible then to sell at a reduced rate and make the same money. . . We're asking these questions in part because we lost a restaurant account worth 50# of lettuce mix this week. That hurts. The reason given for losing it was a grasshopper in a salad. My question to them. . . was the grasshopper still alive? If so that just shows how fresh it is. . . and were you using ranch dressing? Grasshoppers coated in mayonnaise based dressings have problems jumping off of lunch plates when forks are coming at them. So, for this week at Broad Ripple. . . we'll be doing some experimenting. Can we sell more at 20% off our usual retail? John Available This Week: Chiogga Beets (candy striped) Red Beets Cilantro - tons and it looks great Basil Green Peppers Tomatoes Salad Mix Cabbage Broccoli Onions. . . pearl? Summer Squash Bouquets Sunflowers Seedless Cucumbers Chard Parsley Coming Soon: Cherry Tomatoes Potatoes From john at seldomseenfarm.com Fri Jul 24 02:42:49 2009 From: john at seldomseenfarm.com (John Ferree) Date: Fri Jul 24 02:53:37 2009 Subject: [SeldomSeenFarm] When do Tomatoes Beat Beets? Message-ID: <4A698219.4000004@seldomseenfarm.com> It is the week of the beet and the week of the tomato. . . We finally have plenty of all varieties of beets. Golden, candy striped. . . the specialty beets are here. Our greenhouse tomatoes are fruiting heavily as well, and we've got 1000# for both markets this week. Just a friendly reminder that unless Gail and Cathy have tomatoes, these are the only tomatoes at Broad Ripple grown by the vendor. And they're pretty to boot. The farm goes. . . we keep trucking hoping to stay ahead of tomato diseases in this wet year. . . but not really doing anything about them either way. Instead of spraying tomatoes, we're planting brussels sprouts. A solid investment. Brussels sprouts don't have problems with late blight or anthracnose (tomato fungus). Last week's email got a good number of comments. . . some directed at me about not including a baby update. Attached is a picture taken last week. . . . both are doing well. Kel is juggling baby and farm. . . and Laila divides her time between sleeping, eating, and blowing out her diapers. She's also pretty keen on the grandparents. The Week's Weather. . We were doing so well this week. No 2-3" rain event over the weekend. Then about the time that we finished picking greenhouse tomatoes yesterday, the sky opened up. 2" in a short time. This stuff just won't quit. Looking at the storm total on the NOAA site. . . there is a blurb of heavy rain from our place to Pittsboro. The storm was maybe 3/4 of a mile wide and 1.5 miles long. That's just bad luck. John Available This Week: Lots of Golden Beets Chiogga and Purple Beets as well Tomatoes Salad Mix Cabbage Broccoli Head Lettuces (Batavian) Cilantro Basil Summer Squash Cucumbers Green and Purple Peppers Bunched Bulb Onions? If we have time. Coming Soon Cherry Tomatoes Potatoes Cipollini Onions Red Peppers? -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: laila.sunglasses.zinnia.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 155330 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mylist.net/archives/seldomseenfarm/attachments/20090724/6696c7c6/laila.sunglasses.zinnia.jpg From john at seldomseenfarm.com Fri Jul 24 10:57:14 2009 From: john at seldomseenfarm.com (John Ferree) Date: Fri Jul 24 11:07:54 2009 Subject: [SeldomSeenFarm] Re: Local Tomatoes Message-ID: <4A69F5FA.8010601@seldomseenfarm.com> The Spencers will have tomatoes too. . . (Homestead Growers). Anita will beet me senseless if I don't correct this! : ) From john at seldomseenfarm.com Fri Jul 31 03:14:36 2009 From: john at seldomseenfarm.com (John Ferree) Date: Fri Jul 31 03:16:10 2009 Subject: [SeldomSeenFarm] Hello August Message-ID: <4A72C40C.5050501@seldomseenfarm.com> The farm goes, crazy as ever. But it is July and crazy is the norm. . . and August won't provide any relief. We've got a large amount of fall stuff to get in at the same time that the summer crops are coming out. Better get rolling. . . veggie and baby notes are below. J Baby Blurb Laila's eyes are changing color a bit, and she's getting in her real hair. Those big baby eyes seem to look right though me, at least until I realize she's staring at the button on my shirt. Kelly was hoping to make an apperance at BRFM this week. . . but that isn't going to happen. Maybe next week or the 22nd. Summer Squash Varieties. . . We have a number of different squash, from the typical green zucchini to bi-colors. Back in the winter we picked the varieties based mainly on look and taste. The bi-colors, yellow with a green tip, really stand out on a plate. The light green, compact cousas are one of the most tender skinned squashes we've found. When cut on a bias (at a 30-45 degree angle) they make a large, oblong round that is easy to toss in oil and balsamic, then grill. Then there are the bright yellow seabrings. They stand out no matter what you do, with a yellow hue that almost glows in the dark. Sunnies We made a switch this past year to direct seeding sunflowers for the main season. So far it has left us with production gaps and limited stems for sale. . . until now. We switched to save some time and improve our stem quality and size. Looking in the cooler last night. . . there are tons of bi-color, dark centered, green/yellow centers, and pale yellows. We've even got some specialty dark petaled sunnies. These stems should stand on a table for at least a week. Look for sunflowers bunches that have both open and partially open flowers for longest vase life. Another pair of hands? We were a little short handed yesterday. . . but had a typical crew. There's just that much to do with everything coming in at once. We're looking for someone (preferably a west side resident) to work Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 7am - 5pm. This position is mainly harvest help. Starting pay is 8.50/hr. Benefits include access to culls in quantity and free veggies. Available This Week: Salad Mix Cilantro Basil Broccoli? Swiss Chard? Tomatoes Summer Squash Beets, typical. . . golden. . . chiogga Pea Shoots Bouquets & Sunflowers Cipollini Onions Cabbage Cucumbers Head Lettuces? Coming Soon: Potatoes Cherry Tomatoes Red Peppers Shallots