Planting Sweet Corn

The four row corn planter has received plenty of use so far this spring.  We will plant corn multiple times over the next few months to insure we have sweet corn well into the fall.  So far sweet corn has been seeded five different times. Staggered plantings will hopefully result in mature sweet corn through out the entire growing season.  However, as you probaly know the weather this year has been anything but normal.  The best of planning can sometimes be thwarted by mother nature. This planter will get a lot of use this growing season, and we will be selling sweet corn.

Community Supported Agriculture In Virginia

Consultants

Food Preservation

Canning vegetables is a great way to store garden fresh food for the fall and winter.  We can everything from beets to tomatoes, from asparagus to green beans.  We can provide the produce to can either through our CSA or from bulk orders. If you are interested in large orders of green beans, tomatoes, etc. to can let us know in advance.

May 1st Deadline

The official deadline was May 1 to purchase a membership in the Gaffney Farm C.S.A.  We still have 8 memberships available for sale.  If you are interested please visit our website (www.gaffneyfarm.com) and get signed up.  

 

The Sweet Corn is Taking Off

Last year we tried a new variety of sweet corn called Honey Select.  After all the positive feedback we decided to raise the same variety again this year.  In these pictures you can see the sweet corn seedlings breaking through the crust of the soil.  The seedlings look like grass poking through the soil.  Which should be expected since corn is in the grass family.  You can also see the weed pressure coming up around the corn seedlings.  Weeds are a part of life when growing produce.  They are controlled either through the use of a tractor mounted with cultivators or through a little manual labor.  A combination of both is generally the most efficient method for weed management.

A Break In The Rain

For the last couple weeks it seemed like it would never stop raining.  This week we had a few days of sunshine and warm temperatures.  The plants have grown a lot in the past couple days.  We hope the weather will cooperate some more in the upcoming week so these broccoli and cauliflower will produce.

In the picture to the left you can see a head of broccoli starting to form.  The broccoli heads did not show up till recently.  All the sunshine this past week was just what the broccoli and other vegetables needed.  It's amazing to see how fast the plants can grow when the storms subside for a few days.