News From the Field

News from the field:

2022

  • May 28, 2022 is opening day!
  • very busy year. We have been developing the new farm, The Fine Farm at 3125 Florence Road. We planted 5 acres of strawberries which will fruit in 2023. We planted another 5 acres of apple trees for a total of 10 acres of apples. There are many new varieties in the apple orchards. The trellis system for the apple orchards was built. The irrigation pond was built in 2021. The underground supply line and valves were installed this year. The irrigation system was used numerous times to water the new strawberries and apple trees. The begining of the road system was started. Grass parking lots were planted and fertilized so they will be ready for pick your own strawberries next year.

2021

  • Winter 2021, the pick your own fields and the market are closed. We will open in the spring of 2022 when the strawberries ripen.
  • Cicada damage report for year 2021:
    • blueberries – extensive damage
    • apples and peaches – some damage
    • Asian pears – very little damage
    • we are cutting out the damaged branches and removing them from the field. This will help decrease the emergence 17 years from now.
  • June 15, 2021 is opening day for pick your own blueberries. Blueberries are ripening early this year. Usually opening day is June 20-25.
  • the cherry crop did not survive cold nights during bloom very well. The crop is about 20% of what it should be for both sweet and sour cherries.
  • mid June 2021: it has been a good strawberry season. Hot weather is hard on strawberries as they prefer cool days. But our new favorite variety , Flavorfest is handling the temperatures rather well.
  • OPENING DAY IS THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021 FOR PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES.
  • late May, 2021. The strawberries are starting to turn red and we look forward to opening in a few days. Check back for the exact opening day.
  • Spring 2021. It feels good to be able to work in the fields when the weather is just a bit warmer. We are preparing to start the spring planting season. There are apple trees, peach trees, cherry trees to plant. Also strawberries, raspberries and potatoes. And that’s just the transplants. The seeds usually get planted as the soil temperature rises above 50 degrees.

2020

  • mid August, 2020. It has been very hot and challenging weather. Wearing a face mask has strengthen our resolve to strive for the safest conditions for our customers. We all want to survive this.
  • late June, 2020. Everything is going very well. The crops are ripening and customers are coping with the COVID-19 restrictions. It is important that everyone wear their mask while on the farm for everyone’s protection. I’m very glad we have all had a chance to get outside and enjoy the beautiful summer weather.
  • June 1, 2020. Ready to open for pick your own strawberries. After doing frost protection in early May and evaporative cooling in late May, the good news is we have a bountiful strawberry harvest. Spring got off to a very slow start but now the berries are ripening very quickly. Picking is fabulous!
  • Late May 2020. It has been a very unusual spring. It warmed up early and plants started to grow. Then it became cool, cloudy and lots of rain. Crops stopped growing and struggled to survive the change in the weather. In early May it started to warm up again and then the Polar Vortex weather struck Mothers Day weekend bringing very cold temperatures and high winds. This weather caused damage to the crops. We tried to protect the strawberry crop with the irrigation system. When water changes from liquid to ice, it releases heat. This small amount of heat will increase the temperature in the immediate area. If there is a continual freezing process, there is a continual release of heat. So it is possible to maintain a temperature of 30 degrees F. at the blossom. The blossom is killed at 27 degrees F. We have had a lot of success doing this over the years. It doesn’t work very well when the air temperature drops below 24 degrees F. or when there are high winds. We had both of those undesirable conditions May 8-10, 2020. There is some damage to the strawberry crop, mostly oddly shaped berries as part of the blossom/small green fruit was damaged but not all of it. So we still have a crop of mostly beautiful berries. The strawberry season is starting later than usual – early June rather than late May.

2019

  • November 2019. We are preparing the farm for the winter. The irrigation system has been chlorinated and drained. The water supply for the barns has been drained. The barns are cleaned, organized and closed for the winter. The field equipment is cleaned, greased, repaired and put in the barns for the winter. All of the crop fields are mowed to remove plant debris to decrease overwintering disease inoculum. Cover crops have been planted to protect the soil through the winter. Now we begin the preparation for next season’s crops: seed orders, transplant orders, replacing worn equipment, etc.
  • May 20, 2019. We have been extremely busy with the spring planting season. We have planted 58,000 strawberry plants, 250 black raspberry plants, 480 blackberry plants, 350 peach trees, 1650 apple trees, tomatoes, onions, squash, cantaloupes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, snap beans, along with grass for all the new orchards and around all the new fields. The first 4 weeks of the spring planting season, the weather was very cooperative and watered in all the crops we were planting. The last two weeks, we have had more rain then needed and some hail Saturday night. We are hoping for a normal rainfall amount this year. The average rainfall for central Maryland is 42″ a year. Last year we had 78″. We are seeing some problems from excessive rain last year.
  • March 2019. It has been a very wet winter and we are struggling to begin the spring planting season. If the ground is too wet and you try to work the ground for planting, it is possible to permanently damage the soil structure. As the soil is our most precious resource, we are very careful.

2017

  • May 2017. Once again we are experiencing unusual weather. Mid May was cool and cloudy, temperatures in the mid 60’s. Then on May 23 the sun came out and the temperature shot up to 91. The plants were not ready for the dramatic change. Strawberries sun scalded. Leaves on the new fruit trees wilted. We turned on the irrigation to cool off the strawberry fields to protect the berries. Now, on May 23, it is cool and cloudy again. As of now all crops are still in good shape. Fortunately we have tools such as irrigation that allow us to protect the plants from damage. This weather does keep us on our toes.
  • April 2017. We have been working long hours trying to catch up with this very warm and fast moving spring. We have planted 8000 Rutgers Scarlett strawberry plants, 30,000 Galletta strawberry plants, 1,750 pounds of seed potatoes, 590 Olympic Asian pears, 30 Glohaven peaches, 25 Autumn Crisp apples, 105 Premier Honey Crisp apple, 210 Rosalee apples, 14,ooo sweet onion transplants, a half acre of beets, and a half acre of spinach. In between all of this, we have been pruning peaches, cherries, and apples. All of the pruning is done by hand. A mature peach tree takes about 25 minutes to prune. We can wear out a pair of lopers in less than 2 pruning seasons.
  • March 2017. In a very unusal cold and snowy March, we are back in the office doing paper work.
  • February 21-28, 2017. In a very unusually warm and dry February, the weather is favorable for working ground and planting fruit trees. We have planted 7 rows of apples: Autumn Crisp, Sun Crisp and Sansa; 6 rows of peaches: Glenglo, Red Haven, John Boy, Glohaven, White Lady, and Messina; 4 rows of Atago Asian pears, 5 rows of Shinko Asian pears. The grass was planted in the Autumn Crisp apple orchard.

2016

  • The first killing frost occurred the night of Monday, Oct. 24. Weather conditions made this a difficult growing season. Because we are fortunate enough to have good irrigation, the perennial crops are in good shape going into the winter. This is important because next year’s crop of apples, peaches, plums, cherries, strawberries, brambles, blueberries, and grapes is already on the plant. So the growing conditions this fall have a big impact on next years crop. Also the weather conditions this winter are important. Here’s hoping for a gradual drop in temperature so the plants are able to harden off properly and withstand the cold temperatures.
  • Oct. 28, 2016. The last 2 varieties of apples are now ripe. The beets and kale are still plentiful. The harvest of all other crops is done. Most of the grass planted has come up and there are reasonable stands. More rain would be appreciated. It has been quite dry.
  • Sept. 9, 2016. The rows in the next peach orchard have been flagged. The field is ready for grass seed. The rows in the next blackberry field have been flagged and the field is ready for grass seed.
  • September 1, 2016. All of the fall crops have been planted. Broccoli will be forming heads soon. The spinach and beets are up. We are planting 2 Asian pears orchards next spring. One field has been prepared and the grass has been planted. The 3/4 ” of rain last night was welcome. The other field is currently growing tomatoes and will be prepared later. We are laying out the rows for a new raspberry field and will soon plant the grass. Both the pear trees and the raspberry plants will be planted next spring.
    Site selection for a crop is very important. We consider orientation of the rows to sunlight and air drainage. If the dew dries earlier in the morning then there is less chance of fungal diseases spreading through the crop. We also consider the ability to irrigate, parking for customers, proximity to other crops of the same harvest season and crop history of the field.
  • August 26, 2016. The weather has increased the work load substantially. The crops are doing well and are productive but it is making us work a lot harder. I’m tired.
  • August 7, 2016. We are planting fall crops: broccoli, beets, spinach, kale and turnips for harvest in mid-September and October. We are also preparing fields for spring planting. Next spring we will be planting these permanent crops: apples, peaches, red raspberries, blueberries and Asian pears. For these crops the fields have been limed and fertilized as needed. Manure is added for certain crops. Then rows are laid out for erosion prevention and drainage. The grass is planted this fall and a cover crop of forage radishes is planted in the row where the crop will be planted. All the plant material has been ordered last year and this year.
  • June 24, 2016. Mother Nature continues to deliver surprises. The tornado touched down on the farm Tuesday, June 21 in the early afternoon. Fortunately there was no damage to people, houses, barns, or equipment. Many of the trellised crops are leaning over and need repair. There are lots of downed trees to clean up. There was about 5 minutes of hail that damaged some peaches and apples. We are still cleaning up and will be so for days.
  • June 17, 2016. The strawberry harvest turned out better than I thought. The plants compensated for the frost killed blossoms and produced nice fruit on the remaining blossoms. Mother Nature has many tricks up her sleeve.
  • May 30, 2016. Three days of sunshine have made a big difference. Strawberry ripening has improved, good flavor has developed, and picking is good. Plants are growing well.
  • May 28, 2016. Opening day for pick your own strawberries. all of the ripe berries were picked by noon and the fields are closed until Monday, May 30, Memorial Day 9:00 am – 1:00 pm.
  • May 27, 2016. We planted 5200 tomato plants today. It was so hot the plants wilted immediately. Then we had to irrigate the field to remove heat from the field. The tomato plants have perked up.
  • Late May. It has been a long, cold, wet spring. Planting crops has been delayed and difficult. BUT, SO FAR, SO GOOD. The crops that we planted this spring look good. We planted: 325 peach trees, 1500 apple trees, 310 Asian pears, 2,400 blackberry plants, 22,000 strawberry plants, and several acres of grass. The cloudy weather with plenty of rain makes it easy for the transplants to settle in and start growing. It just makes it hard to get in the fields and continue to plant. If you work ground with excess moisture, it destroys the soil structure and turns it into brick. Then the roots cannot penetrate the soil and grow. It is important to wait for the right soil moisture content before entering the fields with heavy equipment.

2015

  • October 29. After the last rain, it got dry again. We irrigated the broccoli a few days ago as it had not increased in size for two weeks. Now the heads are growing well and will be ready for harvest Saturday, Oct. 31. The end of the growing season is drawing near.
  • October 21. Repaired the erosion damage to the big waterway below field 56. All of the area was smoothed out and replanted in grass seed. The area was fertilized and new curlex was put down to prevent erosion and protect the new grass seedlings once they emerge.
  • October 15. We have been hand treating hard to kill perennial weeds in the orchards and blueberries. These weeds are strong and extensive root systems that make them very hard to kill. We have been fighting these weeds for many years. Hopefully this special hand treatment will be effective. These weeds not only compete for water and nutrients, they also harbor diseases and insects.
  • October 6. The excessive rains caused some damage on the newly planted fields. The repairs are tedious and difficult because of all the hand labor involved. The damage could have been much worse so I am glad we only have some repairs to make and not many repairs.
  • October 4. Over 5″ of rain in the last 4 days have fallen. The farm is a muddy mess. We have tried to minimize the damage by closing the pick your own fields and orchards and not doing hayrides. When the soil is wet, if you compress it by walking on it or driving on it, when the soil dries it turns into a brick that will not grow crops. Once this happens, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to return the damaged soil into good growing conditions. So we try very hard never to let the damage occur in the first place.
  • September 24. The grass has germinated in the new plantings with the irrigation that has been applied for the last 4 weeks. The fields look good.
  • September 5. All of the fields to be planted in perennial crops next year have been prepared and planted.
  • August 27. Laid out the new blackberry field for planting next spring. The hillside slopes in 3 different directions and it took 2 people almost 3 days to lay out the rows. Tomorrow we will plant grass and spring oats. The spring oats will germinate quickly and protect the soil from erosion. Then they will die out during the winter and allow the grass to grow. The blackberry plants will be planted next spring.
  • August 22. Preparing to plant orchards next spring.  The fields are laid out. The rows are established. The grass is planted now. The fruit trees will be planted next spring. The fruit trees were ordered over a year ago to ensure we get the varieties we want. Also we are preparing a new blackberry field.
  • August 18. Finished planting all of the fall vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, spinach, turnips, kale and chard.
  • August 6. Much of the work force is college students who will soon be leaving for college. If you are looking for full/part time work for August-early November, we would love to talk to you.
  • August 5. Peach harvest is in full swing. Planting the second planting of broccoli for harvest in early October. Finished pruning the tart cherry trees. Positioning new canes on the red raspberry plants for next years’ harvest.
  • July 31. Finished pruning the sweet cherry trees and now starting on the tart cherry trees. Weeding the new plantings of blueberries and apples. Harvesting peaches, vegetables and tomatoes daily.
  • July 23. Planting fall vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, chard, kale and turnips.
  • July 15. Pruning cherry trees. normally fruit trees are pruned during the dormant season. Because of severe bacterial canker disease that is prevalent in this area, we prune in the summer to minimize exposure to the bacteria.
  • July 2 Summer pruning peach trees. Next years’ crop is set in August and September. Pruning now removes excess vegetation and allows sunlight into the tree. The remaining branches will set a better crop when they receive more sunlight. Summer pruning will take about 3 weeks.
  • July 1. Planted the fourth and last planting of tomatoes. These tomatoes will ripen in September and October. Prepared to open blackberries for pick your own. Attached apple trees to the trellis to protect them from the high winds. Repaired ditches caused by the unusually high amounts of rainfall lately. Pruned the new canes on black raspberries to allow for picking and to keep next years’ crops at a convenient picking height.
  • June 18. Getting ready for the transition from strawberry season to the early summer fruits: blueberries, raspberries, cherries, gooseberries and currants. The baling is done and the bales of straw are in the barn to stay dry until mulching season in November. The pumpkins are up and growing. The summer cover crops (about 15 acres) are just coming up. This includes buckwheat for pollinators, sudex to build healthy soil, and sunflowers for pollinators and for our enjoyment. Sometimes it  is nice to plant a crop, such as sunflowers, just because it makes everyone feel good. Planted the third tomato planting, the second planting of squash and cantaloupes, and the last planting of cut flowers.
  • June 12: Still thinning peaches. We have about 21 acres of peaches. That’s about 2700 trees. It takes 5-10 minutes to do a tree, by hand.  We are about half way done.
  • June 10: baling rye straw for mulching strawberries in November. We grow our own straw so we can control the weed seed that might be in the bales. This reduces herbicide use in the strawberry fields. We use about 125 large round bales of straw to cover the strawberry fields for the winter. The straw does many things: prevents ground from heaving during freezing temperatures; keeps soil from splashing up on the berries when it rains so the fruit stays clean; prevents a fungal disease that is present in the soil from splashing up on the fruit and rotting the berries and thus the straw allows us to reduce  fungicide applications.
  • June 2: Draining the farm following 3.5″ of rain in the last 30 hours. Staking and stringing tomatoes. Weeding raspberries. Starting to thin peaches. Many times a peach tree will have many more peaches on the tree then it is able to bring to harvest. So, by hand, the excess peaches are removed from the tree. This year I think it will take 3-4 weeks to thin peaches. Cherries are starting to ripen.
  • May 30: planting pumpkins, mowing, de-blossoming new strawberry plants so the plants will grow stronger and larger for a better crop next year, training new shoots on the grapes, and still putting pheromones in the apple orchard.
  • May 27: The influence of weather always amazes me. We have gone from scattered strawberry picking to excellent picking  in just two days.
  • May 26: Working on the irrigation system. Even with plenty of natural rainfall, we constantly  use the irrigation: germinating and watering tender new planting, cooling fruit in the strawberry fields to prevent sun scald on ripe berries, supplementing rainfall during critical growth stages of the crops to improve the quality of the harvest, etc.
  • May 25: Opening day for pick your own strawberries!
  • May 19-22, 2015. Getting ready to open May 25. Still pruning blueberries, removing blossoms from young blueberry plants to grow a stronger plant and bear better fruit in future years. Installing pheromones in fruit trees to confuse male moths. This prevents the moths from mating. Then they can’t lay eggs on the fruit and leaves and cause feeding damage. The use of pheromones allows us to decrease pesticide usage.
  • May 13-18, 2015. Planted the third planting of tomatoes. Installed irrigation to the new field of gooseberries and currants, the 4 new rows of grapes,  and the new row of plums. Put trickle irrigation in the tomatoes. Fertilized all the perennial crops: peaches, apples, cherries, plums, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries; and the beets and spinach. Planted the cut flower garden. Mowed the farm. It takes 3-4 days to mow the entire farm with an 8 foot wide mower.
  • May 3-12, 2015. It has been very busy here. All the pruning is done except for the blueberries and that is about one-third done. The second planting of tomatoes is in the ground. The peppers and eggplants are planted and I will work on squash and cantaloupes this afternoon. It is dry now and Fenby has been working very hard on the irrigation system. Water is running in many fields. The market crew is cleaning the Red Barn and preparing to open. Looks like opening day will be sometime between May 28 and June 5. We hope it will be soon. The strawberry fields look good.
  • May 2, 2015. Finished pruning the blackberries and started on the black raspberries.
  • April 30, 2015. Re-planted missing or dead apples and peaches in young orchards. Came across some diseased fruit trees. Taking samples to the plant clinic today.
  • April 28, 2015. Finished pruning the peach trees. Started pruning the blackberries.
  • April 25, 2015. Planted 145 peach trees, 10 plum trees, 66 apple trees, lettuce, kale and flowers for the cutting garden. Still pruning.
  • April 24, 2015. Planted 90 seedless table grapes, 4 different varieties. Planted grass in parts of the apple orchard. Still pruning.
  • April 23, 2015. Planted 725 blueberry plants. Still pruning.
  • April 20-22,  2015. Pruned peaches and pears. It takes 7-9 people about 3 months to prune all the fruit trees on the farm. All the pruning is done by hand. Each tree takes 5-20 minutes to prune depending on size and variety.
  • April 19, 2015. Planted 400 gooseberry plants and 245 currant plants. The plants will produce a small amount of fruit in year 3 and be fully mature by year 5. Replaced 245 blueberry plants that did not survive the winter. Planted the beets, Swiss chard and spinach. Planted grass in one apple orchard.
  • April 17-18, 2015. Planted 48,000 strawberry plants for fruiting in 2016. The first year the blossoms are removed by hand to allow the strawberry plant to grow enough to fill in the row. They are fruited for the next 2 to 3 years and then replaced. Planted the grass around the outside of the strawberry field and down the drive aisles.
  • April 16, 2015. Planted the first of four planting of tomatoes. These transplants are on black plastic which is used to warm the soil. Then the plants are covered with a row cover to protect the tender plants from wind and cold temperatures. Without these measures we would not be able to plant tomatoes until mid May. These tomatoes should ripen in mid to late July.
  • April 6, 2015. Planted potatoes.
  • April 3, 2015. Planted sweet onions.
  • March 2015. The spring thaw has begun. We are cleaning up from winter damage and getting ready for the spring planting season. This spring we have many perennial crops to plant: strawberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currants, seedless table grapes, apples, peaches, plums, and Asian pears. This is in addition to all the annual vegetable crops we routinely plant: tomatoes, spinach, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard,  squash, eggplant, peppers, snap beans, lettuce, turnips, cut flowers, and pumpkins. And to protect and build the soil, provide habitat for pollinators, and reduce soil and water erosion, we plant a lot of cover crops: cereal rye, hairy vetch, buckwheat, sunflowers, forage radishes, sudex, millet, spring oats, wheat, etc.