http://www.plowcreek.org/farm Cultivating friendships and quality pesticide-free produce in north-central Illinois. Fri, 02 May 2008 10:40:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I saw my first strawberry flowers of the year today. That means the first ripe strawberries will appear in about 4 weeks. This is a little behind the last few years, so we do not expect to have saleable quantities until the second week of June. http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=936 Last week we planted another 28 rows of strawberries: Jewels, Honeoye, and two new varieties, Wendy and Darselect. These replace a number of old, weedy, weakening rows that we disked under last year after harvest. Yesterday we removed the mulch on the overwintered strawberries. There are many ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=935 Years ago Plow Creek Farm had a greenhouse, but lately we have hired out the work and used a few cold frames. Now, both for convenience and to be able to follow organic standards, we have a new greenhouse in operation. http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=934 This year a limited number of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares are available. A share costs $430 at the beginning of the season. You get a weekly box of a variety of in season produce, which you pick up at the farm, at below market prices. We have the advantage ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=930 The Case is dead. Long live the John Deere! Our old Case IH gave us many years of good service. But we’ve been told it is no longer worth the major repair needed. So we bought a used John Deere 6210. So far it is working well. ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=928 I’m sorry to report that our raspberry field is currently overwhelmed with mold. The berries were looking good yesterday, but another day of unseasonably hot weather took its toll. Due to a simultaneous lull in garden output, we do not have any other produce to ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=904 Just a note on storing root vegetables…It is important when storing root vegetables (beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, etc.) that you remove the greens immediately! If you do not remove the greens, they attempt to continue growing, and suck moisture out of the root. This is why, if you leave a ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=903 Saturday morning, raspberries will be plentiful at the Princeton Farmer’s Market, Peoria Riverfront Market and Sterling Market. At Princeton and Peoria, you can also find a good supply of watermelon, green beans and eggplant. Tomatoes and herbs will be available to the early shoppers. http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=902 I’d like to put out a little correction for some mis-information in yesterday’s CSA newsletter for Evanston. What you received (with the little paper wrappings) WERE, in fact, GROUND CHERRIES. They are not the same as tomatillos (despite what many internet references say - oy!), and so ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=900 For Princeton Farmers’ Market, on Saturday we will have lots of watermelons and raspberries for Labor Day weekend. We also have a fair amount of tomatoes, including delicious (but funny looking) heirloom tomatoes, but don’t come too late. We also have grapes, onions, herbs, and ... http://www.plowcreek.org/farm/main.php?p=899