January 14, 2016

Good morning, even with added protection with the greenhouses I am not being able to keep things robustly growing. Night time lows are still dropping into the forties and high thirties. These are not temps that are conducive to fast growth. There is moderate growth , considering most mornings are in the mid to lower twenties. I hope to be able to fill all orders, please place your orders and I will see what I can do. I hope to see a mid February warming that normally happens but it might be mid March again this year, just like last. Last years real warming didn't happen until May/ June because we had peas all the way into May last year, a real sign of a cool spring. Oh but this too will pass. I am ready for April though!!!

I managed to get some of the Asian greens sprayed with cold pressed neem oil and considering the state of their existence ( half eaten by saw fly larvae), are showing signs of recovery. I hope to get the rest of the bed sprayed soon. It still does surprise me that there are insects that are active at so cool of conditions. I have not seen this years cold weather bug nor last years anywhere except under fabric. This could be the case like with aphids, the fabric creates the perfect environment. I never did identify the larvae last year so I never could see what the adult looked like. Considering the size of the larvae, the adults must have been rather small but none the less very prolific. This years saw flies I am sure got in when I was trying to attract lady bugs to the boc choi. For some reason aphids just love boc choi.. Aphids take an affinity to all of the mustard family but just absolutely adore boc choi. I just need to keep boc choi in a bed by itself because of this”love” affair.

With all of the recent moisture, the beds are just about at a perfect moisture content. The soil is easily dug and is also friable. It rakes out perfect for a seed bed or for transplants.

NOAA is predicting this winter to be pretty close to the same scenario as last year. A cool moist spring and a warm to hot dry summer. Next winter is predicted to be warmer and drier than this one. The winter moisture is very nice. Not having ice storms would be nice too. If this were to happen, it just might be the perfect set up for my temporary greenhouses to really shine. I was pleased over the weekend with sunny and cool weather (40's -50's), I removed the fabric from over the film and all of the beds heated up to the mid 70's.

Outside temperatures in the 60's and 70's warms the greenhouses up to the mid to upper 80's. Even though we have had some chilly nights into the 20's, as long as there was sunshine the previous day, they do not drop much below 40. There is enough fabric so I can put an extra layer over these greenhouses. Why I haven't done this is one of those mystery’s that evades me. This will change. There is the potential of 8 degrees of heat storage (the frost protection of 1 layer of agribon 70).

Recently someone asked me how butternut squash will last. I begin my harvest somewhere around the first of July and finish my harvest around frost. I have had butternuts last at least to April quite easily. Storage should be in a cool room on the floor if you do not have plans to eat them right away.

The easiest way to cook is to put it dry in a crock pot on low. Once you can push a fork in it, it is done. The flesh can then be easily removed. This can then be used for pies, soup, muffins... or it can be bagged up and frozen for a later date. If you want the flesh to be more whole and not a puree, you will need to peel and then cut it into cubes. Here is one of Debs and mine favorite cubed butternut squash recipe's . Tofu or tempe could be used to replace the sausage for a vegetarian dish.

Liberian Pumpkin (butternut)

2-3 cups butternut (peeled and chopped into 1 in pieces)

onion chopped

hot chili peppers chopped or hot pepper sauce to taste

in large saucepan saute in 2 tbls of oil until onion is translucent. Cover and cook until butternut is done (10 min)

1 cup broth any kind and cook 10 min

1 cup browned sausage

salt and pepper to taste

serve over noodles or brown rice.

Enjoy!!

I can be reached at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com or go to http://redwagonfarm.blogspot.com/ Happy gardening!!!