Photos: Fall crops at the farm

We've just wrapped up irrigation of the peppers. Irrigation is done to protect the plants from frost. Watering helps raise the temperature of the plant and the air around the plant to the warmer temperature of the water. In addition, as the water freezes it actually releases heat, thus further protecting the plant from frost.


A little frost brings out the flavor and color of Kale, one of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow. This tasty brassica green is loaded with Iron and Vitamins A and C. It's great steamed with a squirt of lemon and can be used in a salad.


Leeks ready to pick: This onion cousin is a great late-season crop. Many Johnny's varieties can handle a heavy frost and are considered winter-hardy.

Photos from the Farm

Here at Johnny's we run a variety of different trials over the year. Depending on what we're testing, the process starts with planting seeds, growing out plants, harvesting fruit, then harvesting seeds from the fruit. Here are some photos from the trialing process for your enjoyment.

Start of Pepper Breeding Trials

Planting Out Pepper Breeding Trials


Planting New York Early Onion

Covering Squash Transplants with Row Cover


Tomato Trials

Basket Weaving Tomatoes


Lettuce Trials

Spinach Trials


Tomatoes, Peppers, and Greens in the Hoophouse

Plants in the Greenhouse


Flower Trials

Sluicing Squash Seeds

Photos from the Farm

Cultivating with the Reigi Weeder

Pruning Tomato Suckers

Spraying Tomato Trials

More Spraying Tomato Trials

Chopping Green Manure

Cultivating

Spraying Onion Trials

Weeding Onion Trials

Seed Breeding Workshops

Johnny's has several different seed breeding workships annually. Every year we extract seeds from selected hand pollinated fruits That seed is planted next season, and the process is repeated annually.


Pumpkin Breeding Workshop

The flags, which you see in the Pumpkin Workshop picture, are used to mark hand pollinated fruits on the field. We also use onion bags to protect hand pollinated fruits from being eaten by small animals.

Aneta is removing squash seeds from marked fruits, and will label them and save them for next year. They will be planted and tested, and this is how new varieties spring into being.


Extracting Squash Seed


Extracting more Squash Seed

We also have a pepper breeding program.


Extracting Pepper Seed

We also breed other vegetables.


Harvesting Jerusalem Artichokes

River Valley Fencing

This past summer, Johnny's had a fence installed by River Valley Fencing. As Brian has mentioned in his "What's New at the Farm?" updates, we had a severe deer problem, and needed a solution. This fence seems to have done the trick!


Fence details:

• It took twenty days to build the 8’ high, high tensile fence with fixed knot, black woven wire with 12’ posts of 6” diameter placed every 20’.


• The wire is specifically designed for commercial vegetable and orchard operations. The bottom squares of the fence wire allow for biodiversity, helping to keep the mice and small vermin population down by allowing small predators through the fence.


• There are 4 main gates, 24’ wide, and 9 smaller gateways. Gates are 98” high and have a 4”x4” welded galvanized mesh. There are a variety of gate widths based on Johnny’s access needs.


• Posts were installed using a post pounder that has a rock spike because the ground conditions were especially hard. Although usually able to pound an average of 50 posts per day, we averaged only 30 per day at Johnny’s. The post pounding was the hardest that RVF has encountered all season.


• Approximately 70 16’ H-Brace assemblies were installed whenever the fence changed direction or there was a gateway. These are required because the wire is stretched at high tension.


• A 10,000 lb. tracked skid steer with a hydraulic wire stretcher was used to unwind the wire and to tighten the fence to the correct tension. The stretcher allows us to ‘tension’ up to a 1000 continuous feet, and to install up to 4000’ of wire in a day, depending on terrain.


• All fence materials are designed for agricultural use and have a life expectancy of at least 30 years, with the wire lasting up to 40 years.

River Valley Fencing specializes in fences that are functional and beautiful. Using the finest materials, and the best suited to the client’s needs, this team of experienced fencers will build the fence that protects livestock or crops and beautifies the landscape. No job is too small or too large for River Valley Fencing.


Daniel Maltby, President and owner of River Valley Fencing has been farming for over 20 years and fencing since 1997. He will consults by phone and in person to assess the client’s fence needs. Following a visit, he will provides a written plan, with duration of the work and a cost estimate for the project. When the client is ready, Daniel will schedule the job, have materials delivered, and arrive with his fencing team to efficiently complete the project. Daniel is fully experienced in USDA Equip program grants and has completed many different jobs under NRCS specifications in all New England states.



Surveying for the fence


Setting preliminary posts


Eyeballing the fence post alignment


Carrying posts


Laying out posts


Setting posts in rocky Maine soil


Adding cross posts for stability


Strengthening the fence


Stretching the wire


Stretching more wire


Attaching the wire


Adjusting the wire


More attachments

Images from the farm 08/29/2008

Basket Weaving Tomato Plants

Hoeing Carrots

Repairing a Harrow

Images from the farm

Cultivating Radishes


Pruning Tomatoes


Removing row covers

Removing another row cover from squash plants

Video from the Farm

Treating cucurbits with Surround, Entrust, and Golden Pest Spray Oil

Pictures from the farm, 6/19/08

Transplanting tomatoes into the hoophouse.


Putting up the new hortonova as a temporary fence.

Thinning carrots.

Distributing ladybugs for pest control.

Cultivating tomatoes in the field