Farm Closed Saturday - See You at Farmer's Market!

There will be no sales at the farm today.  Come join us at the Ruidoso Downs Farmer's and Artisan's Market:  All American Park at 26335 US-70 - just east of the race track in Ruidoso Downs.

In addition to the zucchini and yellow crookneck squash, as well as the radishes, we also have beets, Genovese basil and zucchini chips for tasting.

Radish bunches below are $1.25 each:

We should be there between 7:30 am and 8:00 am and will stay until (a) noon, (b) we sell out, (c) it gets too hot, or (d) it rains.  

Farm Open Today, Thursday July 28

We are open today from 9 am to 5 pm at 1080 State Highway 37, Nogal, NM.

Look what peaked out at dawn this morning.  Our tomatoes are coming along.  The early few will get vine picked tomatoes today:

For picking today, we have:
Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck Squash: $3 for 4, or $1 each for large
Scarlet and White Radishes: $1.00 for 5

Our Red Beets are debuting today.  Depending upon size: $1.00 for 2 or 3.

We also have fresh Basil: $1.50 for two clippings.

Hungry yet?

First Farmer’s Market – Ruidoso Downs

Our first day at the Ruidoso Downs Farmer’s Market as a vendor was a great experience.  It afforded us the opportunity to get to know our customers and find out the various ways in which the produce is baked, cooked, fried, BBQ’d or canned.  That information assists us in knowing how to pick the vegetables for their needs.

We picked our produce the morning of the market.  Inevitably, we did not arrive to the market until 7:45 am rather than the scheduled 7 am start.  We were sold out of all product but four zucchini before 11 am.  

Here is our produce, with Myron and my sister Becky in the background utilizing what little shade we could make.  The radishes in the box to the left are already almost gone.

We shaded the produce as best as possible with an old apple bushel basket and apple crate from the days when my grandpa sold apples off the farm.

It is a very easy going market.  If you do not come by the farm and buy direct from the field, we hope to see you at the market next Saturday.  You know the produce will be fresh because it will be picked that morning, therefore we appreciate your patience as we will be a tad late.

Open For Business!

This week we are picking:

* zucchini squash

* yellow crooked neck squash

* scarlet radishes.

Yesterday we had our first drive in customers.  Caroline and Denys bought zucchini squash and yellow crooked neck squash fresh off the vine.  They also bought the only two ripe tomatoes we had, again, right off the vine.

This Thursday and Friday we will be available to drive in customers from 8 am to 5 pm.  It is to your advantage that we leave the produce on the vine until you arrive.  If you are worried that we may be out of product, please give us a call at 575-354-2444.  Please be patient if you must leave a message because we are in the field.  Cell phones do not work out here.  No worries.  We will see your message soon enough as we tend to come inside to rehydrate or cool off, or lately, to get out of the rain.

Zucchini Squash – 1 Basket (~3 medium or 4 small) $3.75

Yellow Crooked Neck Squash – 1 Basket (~3 medium or 4 small) $3.50

Scarlet Radishes – $0.50 each or 3 for $1.25

Our market garden is pesticide and herbicide free.   Buying locally gives you a freshness that is unattainable in a grocery store.

Tomato Hornworm…EEWWW!

One of the challenges of gardening without insecticides is, well, dealing with pests.  We are putting out natural deterrents for the grasshoppers, always using something edible to us but harmful to them.  We have a great deal of help from a family of roadrunners that has claimed this property.  The roadrunners are quite entertaining and deserving of their own post, but it will have to wait until I can capture those voracious birds on camera.

The roadrunners have not yet figured out how to find the disgusting, wait – I mean – juicy, tasty, treat of the tomato hornworm.  One hornworm can defoliate a nightshade family plant (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) in short order.  We knew we were at risk of these evil caterpillars when we saw so many of the adult moths ramming our bright flashlight during our late walks and also hitting the windows at night.  “The adult moths, sometimes referred to as a "sphinx", "hawk", or "hummingbird" moths, are large, heavy-bodied insects with narrow front wings. The tomato hornworm moth is a mottled gray-brown color with yellow spots on the sides of the abdomen and a wingspread of four to five inches. The hindwings have alternating light and dark bands.”[i]  These moths lay their eggs on the leaves of the nightshade plants.

Picture by Didier Descouens - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46972574

Shown here is damage done to one of our plants in less than 24 hours:

Shown here are the defoliating culprits.  Big!  We find one per plant and have removed about 20 so far.

One the bright side, we have hundreds of healthy tomato plants.  We can pick these nasty creatures off each morning and keep the damage to a minimum and keep them from reproducing a second time this season. 

We have many rows of healthy tomatoes, here is an example of a two.

A couple of tomatoes beginning to turn.

Also, the sweet corn is coming along.

The zucchini and crooked neck yellow squash are close to picking.  Here is one of many zucchini plants after a good rain.

Let us not forget to show some of the good guys.  This lady bug is cleaning the zucchini plant.

We are not ready for market yet, but oh so close!

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[i] “Tomato hornworms in Home Gardens,” University of Minnesota, http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/tomato-hornworms-in-home-gardens/