Lettuce

It's been an embarrassment of riches this spring for Rhode Island Farmers. After our worst flooding in 200 years back in March, the weather has been near perfect. Temperatures have been above normal and while rainfall has been a little low, the water tables are high (for obvious reasons) so there's no shortage of water for growing crops. Last week we had a record setting day of 96 degrees which is unheard of in May. Pepper plants doubled in size in a single day and radishes got even more of that distinctive peppery flavor.

Warm weather has also brought perennials in ahead of schedule. Fruit trees are flowering early and yesterday I noticed the lavender is budding out. Now, we shouldn't have lavender flowers until July, but from the looks of the plant, it could be flowering out in early June!

There are a couple of issues with this year of early crops. First, flowering plants are pollinated by bees who work on a schedule. Could this early flowering throw off their schedule and disrupt pollination? Second, most plants have insects that attack them. Those insects also have predators. If the insects hatch early but their predators don't, some nasty insects could multiply and defoliate unchecked.

Time will tell on these worries, but for now, we're loving the bounty of lettuce. One Love Farm has twice as much lettuce as we usually have this time of year. And we've been growing many new varieties this spring. One is a red leaf lettuce I got from the Pacific Northwest. It is called Outrageous and it is almost a Romaine type red leaf. I pick lettuce early to create a custom cut leaf mix. This week we had a bunch of Outrageous in the mix along with a curly green variety, beet greens and arugula. I held some back for us to eat this week and it's a good thing because we sold out of lettuce at the Richmond Farmers' Market by 10am!

Poppies

Without a doubt, John Steinbeck is my favorite novelist. I've loved his books since I was introduced to them in school and still enjoy reading them today. In an earlier post I talked about picking up a copy of Sweet Thursday during a trip to Powells Book Store in Portland, Ore. In the book, Steinbeck writes "Again it was a Sweet Thursday in the spring. The Sun took a leap toward summer and loosed the furled petals of the golden poppies."

Certainly, Steinbeck is talking about the annual poppies that grow and easily reseed in fields in California. At One Love Farm, we grow the perennial variety of poppy. This year everything is coming up early. No doubt aided by mild weather and lack of a late killing frost. Poppies usually bloom in June in Rhode Island, but are at least two weeks early this year. We've definately enjoyed the early color!

Radishes

Radishes are a great spring crop for farms in Rhode Island. They like the cool weather we have in the spring so you can plant them in March, they germinate quickly, and you can harvest them in as little as four weeks! There are also lots of people who enjoy eating radishes. At the Richmond Farmers' Market, I sell lots of radishes in May and early June. Radish fans love to tell me how they use radishes in salads or pickled in vinegar. I had someone tell me that they eat radish sandwiches with butter, an idea I had not heard before.

In the past few months, a new way to eat radishes has been gaining popularity at upscale restaurants, especially in New York City. The food trend of roasting radishes was documented a couple of weeks ago in the New York Times. This didn't come as a surprise to us as we've been talking about roasting radishes to patrons of the Richmond Farmers' Market for over a year. Most folks are skeptical and who can blame them. We had the same reaction when some good friends made a pan of roasted vegetables and asked us to guess the secret ingredient. As you know by now, it was radishes. When roasted, radishes lose a lot of the peppery, or sulfur taste that radish haters find objectionable. They release their sugars and Karen says they taste kind of like a roasted onion. I think it's more like a turnip and I'be heard others say roasted potato. Either way, roasting radishes is a great way to enjoy this spring crop and when you think about it, it only makes sense. All root crops (carrots, beets, potatoes) are wonderful roasted, so why not the humble radish?

Dianthus

We had a great opening day at the Richmond Farmers' Market on Saturday. The support of the local community for our market is incredible and we're looking forward to another successful season at the Richmond Town Hall on Saturday mornings.

One of my favorite blooming perennials is Dianthus. Sweet William and Pink are two of the most popular varieties of Dianthus, but there are hundreds of others. Karen and I call our Dianthus Hedgehog because of its texture when not in bloom. One of the nicest characteristics of Dianthus, or worse characteristcis, depending on your viewpoint, it its ability to spread. Dianthus will take whatever space you give it. We like it because it gives a carpet of flowers in the spring and has silvery gray foliage the rest of the year. Its dense foliage also chokes out the weeds which is a big plus in the perennial bed.

We have Dianthus in two areas of our yard. In the front next to the driveway is where we planted it when we first got the plant years ago. It was in a gallon pot, but now takes up a spot at least six feet long and four feet wide. Three years ago we took a bit of this plant, divided it and planted it in the back near the flagstone patio. Those are the pictures you see above. That tiny transplant now takes up an area about five feet by five feet and is working its way up a hill. This evening Karen was talking about taking a bit of that Dianthus and transplanting it on the back of the berm. I'm sure it will do well in that locaion as well!

Camomile

Ten yards of compost has been moved and incorporated into planting beds. Ten yards, moved one shovelful, one wheelbarrow full, one raised bed at a time. Not moved once, but three times. Once from the pile into the wheelbarrow, then grunt labor moving the wheelbarrow to the raised bed and finally incorporated the moved compost into the existing soil. So what's the next logical step after breaking your back one shovelful of compost at a time? Another truckload of compost, of course. Since the compost arrived Saturday morning and it was rainy and windy in Rhode Island, I wasn't about to do this crummy job in whipping rain. So, I set out on some errands.

My number one mission was to get some cammomile seed. Now, cammomile is a prolific reproducer. Even though it is an annual, it will readily reseed itself for the next year. Anyone who has planted cammomile knows this. But, I wanted to expand the number of cammomile plants I currently have. In addition, I did a lot of work on the herb garden where the cammomile has resided in the past and was concerned that it may not come up again this year. So, I set out looking for camomile.

I haven't been to Seven Arrows Farm in a few years. Now that we live in southern RI, it is quite a hike to Attleboro. Yesterday, I had nothing but time so I made the trek. Seven Arrows has expanded their offerings quite a bit from when they started as an herb farm. They have a full line of perennials and veggie starts and feature bamboo. They also have a tea room with scones and other snacks for sale. I bought some heirloom veggies and dill seed but couldn't find any camomile seed. I asked Judy and she said they didn't have any seed but that I should check out their old seed bin.

Judy took me upstairs to a cute converted attic. She said it is an open meditation space (the hammock looked comfy!). Then, she pulled a big box out from under a table and said "Have a look and take whatever you want. The seeds are old, but they're fine." I knew Judy was right about old seeds. I have used extra one and two year old seed at One Love Farm, and although they don't germinate at the same rate as new seed, they do just fine. Archeologists know old seed works, too. When excavated South American Indian burial sites, they found unpopped popcorn kernals. Some of these kernals were thousands of years old. When the archeologists heated the kernals, they popped!

Finding camomile seeds was going to be a challenge though. There were literally hundreds of seed packets in this box. Some were held together with rubber bands, while others were separated in sets in paper bags. I started the search. Leeks, carrots, snapdragons. Nope, nope, nope. Leeks, peppers, marigolds. I'm planting marigolds with my tomatoes to supress pests, so I'm keeping that packet. Leeks, lettuce, beans. Why so many leeks seeds? I've been looking for quite a while and am ready to give up when I hit the jackpot, Camomile!

By the time I get home the storm has passed and while still very windy, the sun it out and it is warm outside. So, I have a decision to make. I can start moving compost (now wet compost) or plant my new dill and camomile seeds. Not much of a decision really. I prep the herb bed where I want to plant my new seeds. Near the sage (which has over wintered marvaously, by the way). The seeds are planted and watered in. Now I wait for the flush of dill and camomile this summer!

Sweet Thursday

Karen and I were recently in Portland, Oregon on vacation. Local agriculture is thriving due to the Willamette Wine Region. We tried several wines that are world class. Unlike Napa Valley, the wineries are still small and the tasting rooms rustic which I think makes for a more authentic experience. Portland is also known for supporting their brew pubs. Many pubs brew their own beers and those that don't carry a wide selection of local brews. Another institution in Portland is Powell's books. Their main store is the size of a football field! Karen and I popped into this store several times and were amazed at the selection. One of books I bought is "Sweet Thursday." A sequel to "Cannery Row," it is one of John Steinbeck's lesser known works. In it, Sweet Thursday follows Lousy Wednesday. Sweet Thursday's sunshine had a "goldy look and red geraniums that burned the air around them." While it may be a little early for red geraniums in Rhode Island, we certainly enjoyed the sunshine and it's "goldy look" yesterday. The weather could not have been better after our regoins "Lousy Wednesday" of floods and its related damage. Hopefully, Sweet Thursday will hang around for a while.