News and blog
Today is May 2nd, and we started picking strawberries! This is one week earlier than last year, and that was our earliest pick at that time. What is the reason for the earliness? I'm not an expert, but I have a couple of suggestions.
First, we grow two varieties of berries, an early variety that we experimented with last year and liked, and our main season variety. Second, all of that snow that was so beautiful, but did create some hardship (and backaches), was a blessing to our strawberries. Although we cover them with row covers all winter, the snow created an extra layer of insulation for a very cold 6 week period. Third, we have had a couple of warm stretches this Spring which may have pushed the blossoms.
Whatever the reason, I'm delighted, for I LOVE strawberries! I guess that's why I don't mind picking them for hours and hours.
Please bear with us during the early part of strawberry season. We will probably be picking every other day until things ramp up. We don't want to pick under ripe berries, so patience must be practiced. If you are coming from a distance, please give the stand a call (410-734-7400) to confirm that we are picking berries that day.
Thank you so much.
After a challenging, yet beautiful winter, our market will open on Friday, April 30th. We can't wait to share our newly expanded building with you. Although a few finishing touches are still needed, things are coming along well. And come opening day, it will be full of beautiful hanging baskets, potted flowers and vegetable plants. Come visit and treat yourself to a touch of Springtime.
We enjoy growing things so much, that we decided to do a little "growing" this winter. It was not one of the crops we usually grow, rather an addition to the market. After 8 years in our original building, we started to feel as though we were popping at the seams. We were in need of additional storage, sales, and especially cold box space. Last season we started a CSA and this year we are expanding its membership. With that, comes a need for more room to store the boxes on pick up days.
So, the Harmans decided to do their part to "stimulate the economy" and put on an addition. We had a few setbacks, such as the wrong doors at first, and a cut water and electric line, but things are progressing now. The floor should be poured later next week and than some additional interior work. Of course we hoped to be further ahead by this time of year, but as you know, the weather didn't cooperate with building projects too much this winter.
We're very excited about this new addition and hope that you will enjoy it, too!
Our family loves watermelon! It’s a good thing that we grow them, for we eat watermelon for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner during the summertime. Oh, and sometimes in between!
Many of you know that we grow red and YELLOW seedless watermelon. Yes, that’s right, yellow watermelon. They are very similar to a red, but just a different color inside. Ask Daniel, and he will tell you that his favorite watermelon is yellow. They are sweet and juicy, and quench your thirst on these hot summer days.
Go ahead and be daring. Try a yellow watermelon!
If you're like me, the corn can't be ready soon enough. Luckily, the time is soon arriving and I wanted to share with you some pictures and information about our corn crop.
Like most of our crops, we make many succession plantings throughout the spring and summer to ensure that we will have vegetables the entire season. But I must say that corn wins hands down for the number of plantings; approximately 19. Tom starts planting corn around the third week of March and keeps planting every week into July. He has just finished planting the corn for Labor Day weekend (that's always a big planting). The first several plantings of corn are covered with clear plastic that acts like a greenhouse to keep it warm. Otherwise, the cold March and April days and nights would not allow the seed to germinate, and if it did, a frost could kill it. By planting this early under plastic, we are able to have our first corn by late June.
Our first corn started tasseling June 9th, and we usually plan on the first picking around 20 days from tassel - give or take a few days. The pictures show the first planting and notice the ears. The silk on the ears is white now, but when the corn is ready to pull, the silk will be brown. Now the trick is to keep the deer and raccoons out of the corn so that we can enjoy it!!
What happened to the strawberries?? They were here one day and gone the next. The answer lies in the weather. We had a beautiful crop of berries and were picking large quantities everyday to sell in the market. They were sweet and had good size and shape. We were delighted.
But, then the rain came, and came and came. And when it wasn't raining, the mornings were very dewey. This is not good for berries, and to add insult to injury, it got warm. We continued to pick, but it became more difficult as the rainy days continued. Finally, after sticking my fingers in 10 mushy berries in order to find one good one, I decided that it was time to move on to other endeavors.
But in every cloud, there is a silver lining. All of the rain and warm weather has given us the best corn crop that I have seen in many years. We can't wait until the end of June when we start pulling corn. We hope to see you then!
We are very excited that our strawberries have reached a point that we can pick them everyday. We are happy, for our customers will no longer have to guess whether it is an "on" or "off" day. The crop looks beautiful and with a little cooperation from Mother Nature, we should have them for a few weeks.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Some of you may have noticed that some days we have strawberries and some days, we don't. What's up??
Here lies the answer. This past September, we planted a new, early variety of strawberry, in addition to our tried and true variety. Since we were not familiar with the taste or performance of this new type, we didn't plant a large number of rows of them.
They have performed very nicely, and they have a wonderful flavor, too. The only problem is that we don't have enough to pick every day. With the large number of our regular variety, we alternate the blocks that we pick in order to allow a day of ripening. With the early variety, we pick them all, then allow them a day's rest for ripening. Allowing them to ripen to their fullest makes all the difference in the flavor.
The good news is that the regular variety is getting ripe and I foresee that very soon, we will be picking every day.
Thank you for your patience and look for the "Harman's Sweet Strawberry" sign when you drive by!
Paula
In our last story, I explained that we have started seeding some of our first transplants. I am happy to report that those seeds have successfully "hatched" or germinated and the first baby plants were born. The nursery, oh I mean greenhouse, is quickly filling up with many young transplants.
Each day, I work in the greenhouse to care for the new baby plants. Subsequent seedings have been made, and we now have a nice array of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beets, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and many varieties of cut flowers. In the near future, I will seed additional types of fruits and vegetables as well as repetitions of what has already been seeded.
Back in the greenhouse, I spent many days putting together hanging baskets and container gardens from small plugs. We use Proven Winners, for we have been pleased with the quality of these plants.
I hope that you are starting to get outdoors to enjoy the beginning of spring. It's a wonderful time of year that brings hope and rebirth to everyone.
The Olympic Games commence with the words, "Let the games begin." On our farm, you can hear the words, "Let the growing begin" when the beginning of March rolls around. The greenhouse is officially running. Yesterday, even though it felt warm enough to plant outside, I spent the day seeding my first vegetable and flower transplants.
March has turned into one of my favorite times of the growing season. After many months of indoor work, I am finally playing in the dirt again. And the best part is that even if it is cold outside, I have my own little personal summer inside the greenhouse.
All of the vegetables and annual flowers, with the exception of the corn, beans and pumpkins, are started in the greenhouse. Tiny transplants, started from seed, are grown in 50 or 72 cell trays. Each week, we start a new set of transplants so that we have successive plantings throughout the spring and summer. For instance, we do 6 plantings of tomatoes, 8 plantings of squash, and 18 plantings of sunflowers. Charts are carefully maintained to keep track of the seeding schedule. Once the weather gets warmer, and the transplants are big enough and tough enough to leave the ideal conditions of the greenhouse, the plants will be planted in the fields.
To me, watching these tiny seeds turn into the plants that produce the delicious fruits and vegetables that we enjoy in the summer is nothing short of a miracle.
