Update on our Asparagus Crown Planting: Part III

Our Final Asparagus Crown Planting Update 

May 2015

Here’s the last update ‘til fall for our newly planted asparagus crown bed. At the end of the last post, we mentioned that as the spears grow, you will gradually fill in your furrow with soil until its top surface is even with the surrounding soil line. We have been doing this since our last post, adding the final layer of soil to finish filling in the furrow today.

Surrounding Soil
Filling the Furrow

The process is the same as before: Gently pull soil into the furrow, while not completely covering any buds that are still emerging. Yesterday a large afternoon thunderstorm had already started to fill the furrow with surrounding soil. We used a collinear hoe to once more level out the rest of it. You might notice in the photos that some of the crowns are establishing faster than others and those spears have already grown well above the soil line. This is okay – some are just slower to snap out of their stay in cold storage than others and will catch up eventually.

Leveling Out the Furrow

Now that the soil level is where it should be, the next step is to cover the bed with mulch to suppress any weeds that might begin to grow. Keeping your asparagus bed free of weeds will not only save you a lot of labor, but support nutrient and moisture availability to the crowns. We use straw to mulch our bed, but other materials that allow water to percolate through, such as composted leaves, can also be used. Leave a couple inches of soil surface open around the line of spears down the center, of the bed, or keep the mulch layer thin in this area, especially if there are any crowns with spears that have not yet emerged above the soil line.

See photos below:

Your asparagus bed is now well set until fall — but keep an eye on it, and keep the soil moderately moist throughout the hot summer months.

In the fall, when the fronds have died back, cut them off at soil level, and be sure to remove all the debris, to eliminate potential habitat for asparagus beetles. Fall is also the time to add more compost, if needed, and to freshen up the mulch for the winter ahead.

Johnny's Donates to FoodCorps

FoodCorps members are making a huge difference nationwide to revitalize garden space; from September through March of the 2015 school year, they have built or revitalized the equivalent of 8.6 NBA basketball courts worth of garden space!

Our Charitable Giving Committee recently partnered with FoodCorps to supply their members with pre-made kits of easy-to-grow seeds.

We can’t wait to see the outcome of their seed kits!

• Learn about the FoodCorps organization »
• Visit FoodCorps' Facebook page to stay up-to-date with their work »
• Find out more about our Charitable Giving Committee » 
• See what else is In The News at Johnnyseeds.com »

Culinary Trends in 2015: Collards

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Technician, Steven Rodrigue, discussed Micro Greens. The week prior, Vegetable Product Technician, Steve Bellavia, covered the topic of Hot Peppers. This week, Vegetable Product Technician, Julius Koenig, will be sharing his thoughts on Collards:

  Collards

  By Julius Koenig

  Vegetable Product Technician

Collards (Brassica oleracea) have been a staple vegetable for the southern U.S. for many decades. Now collards are becoming haute cuisine in many dining establishments across the country. The reason behind this interest could be the nutritional content; collards are packed with vitamins and minerals, also providing a great source of fiber. There has also been the comparison between kale and collards, which has many people debating which vegetable is their favorite.

Flash

At Johnny's, we offer three varieties of collards. Whether you’re looking for a Georgia type, known for savoyed leaves, or the Vates types with leaves that are smooth and flat, we have the selection to meet your needs. ‘TopBunch F1’, a lightly savoyed Georgia type that is very quick to mature in 50 days.  ‘Flash F1’ is a Vates type, with a beautiful dark green smooth leaf. ‘Champion’, our open-pollinated option, is a Vates type with large dark green leaves, but is also the best choice for baby leaf. 

Long-time Johnny’s Product Technician Steve Bellavia, who has trialed Brassicas for more than 15 years, says, “I prefer collards to kale, due to their sweetness.”  Interested in trying collards yourself? A simple Google search will yield you hundreds of recipes to try; from the traditional steamed collards to collard sushi. When cooking collards, don’t neglect the fibrous stem, which can be steamed or sautéed minutes before the leaves are thrown in the pot. 

• Shop our selection of Collards at Johnnyseeds.com >

Culinary Trends in 2015: Micro Greens

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Technician, Steve Bellavia, covered the topic of Hot Peppers. The week prior, Vegetable Product Manager, Pete Zuck and Plant Breeder, John Navazio discussed Root Vegetables. This week, Product Technician, Steven Rodrigue, will be sharing his thoughts on Micro Greens:

Micro Greens

By Steven Rodrigue

Vegetable Product Technician

Spicy Micro Mix

Many growers have found micro greens to be a worthwhile addition to their offerings at farmer’s

markets and directly to chefs. Not only are they easy to grow, but the quick turnaround from seeding to harvest is a major advantage. The attributes of micro greens that are pleasing to the eye and the palate allow for versatility in the kitchen and inspire chefs with their ability to enhance the presentation of any dish.

Using micro greens in place of finely chopped, full-size greens and herbs allows the consumer to see where the flavor in their meal is coming from. By garnishing with micros, your dish becomes elegant, refined, and subtly sophisticated. Diverse flavor profiles provide micro greens with additional potential beyond garnish. Many of the micros grown from herbs complement desserts superbly with flavors ranging from sweet to tart to licorice-like. In addition to flavor, color and texture are qualities to consider when pairing micro greens with a particular dish.

There are limitless ways for how micro greens can accompany your next meal, but here are just a few:

Bull's Blood Beet

• As the scaled-down version of herbs and vegetables, use micros on scaled-down versions of meals. Top your miniature burgers with the micro green of your preferred flavor, texture, and color. 
• Plan for the holidays: use bright reds and greens for Christmas and arrange micros on your hors d'oeuvre. 
• Add a whole new level of garnish and flavor to your cocktails. 

Culinary Trends in 2015: Fresh Peas

Petite Snap-Greens

Johnny’s Product Managers are weighing in on the National Restaurant Association’s list of this year’s top culinary trends. Last week, Vegetable Product Manager, Pete Zuck covered Heirloom Tomatoes. This week, Johnny’s Vegetable Product Manager, Lauren Giroux, will be discussing Fresh Peas:

     
      Fresh Peas

By Lauren Giroux, Vegetable Product Manager

Let’s think about the significance of peas. For many babies, peas were one of the first foods introduced, for better or worse. They are mild, sweet, and healthy. When most people think of peas, they are probably thinking about shell peas, and they are probably most familiar with the frozen form. They might also recognize the snow peas used in Chinese food. 

Today, peas are much more exciting. We still have the standard snap peas of gardens past — varieties like ‘Sugar Snap’ and ‘Sugar Ann’— that you eat right in the garden, or pack as a snack in your lunchbox. Then there are pea shoots which make not only an appealing garnish option for many dishes, but also add great flavor to salads. The real beauty of pea shoots is the ability to experience fresh pea flavor all year round, in less than two weeks. 

And now, peas are coming in different colors and with interesting leaf patterns. There are yellow and purple pods, and the most tender shoots and interesting leafy “tendrils.” These shoots and tendrils make perfect additions to salad mix, or to garnish a plate. Don’t forget, the flowers, make another great addition to your spring salad. So, eat your peas — the whole plant. 

Royal Snow

*Learn about Pea Selection at Johnny's: 

        ·      The Story of Sugar Ann >

     

*Discover our selection of 16 varieties of Peas at Johnnyseeds.com:

·         Shop for Sugar Ann >

·         Shop for Sugar Snap > 

·         Shop for Royal Snow >

·         Shop for Golden Sweet >

·         Shop for Petit Snap Greens >

Banker Plants

Protected culture structures, such as hoophouses and greenhouses, are by nature limited in growing space. Many growers make the most of the available space by planting crops that have high returns; i.e., tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants. In a closed environment, it is also well worth it to put a little of the area aside for banker plants.

Any crop that provides a habitat for beneficial insects can be used as a banker plant. One of the greenhouses at Johnny’s research farm is dedicated to peppers and eggplants — both of which are susceptible to predation by aphids. In addition to the peppers and eggplants, space has been reserved for containers of oats which serve as banker plants by providing habitat for oat aphids. The oat aphids are released into the oats, which are then covered to allow the population of the pest to grow.

Why would someone release an aphid of any kind into their greenhouse and then build their population? The oat aphid is host-specific to only oats; it won’t attack any other crop. At Johnny’s, once the oat aphid population has grown, Greenhouse Manager Pam Carter releases parasitic wasps that attack aphids of all kinds, including those that pose a danger to the peppers and eggplants. As a side benefit, the oats can also provide habitat for ladybugs, another beneficial insect and predator of aphids.

For those of you with concerns about the use of insecticides, banker plants are a practical alternative. In many cases the resulting natural controls by beneficial insects will reduce the need for insecticidal applications.

Further Resources

Johnny's offers a line of farm seed and other types of seed varieties that Attract Beneficial Insects »

To learn more, see our articles on Attracting & Putting Beneficial Insects to Work »

Disease Resistance: How’d they do that?

In my territory, one thing there is no shortage of is nasty little organisms that are just waiting to take advantage of a defenseless vegetable plant. Here in the southeast our weather can get hot and humid; perfect for all kinds of fungi and bacteria. To make matters worse, insects that can carry viral diseases like Tomato Spotted Wilt and Papaya Ring Spot Virus are all too willing to add to the misery. Fortunately, plant breeders are constantly developing new vegetable varieties that are resistant or tolerant to major disease-causing pathogens.

Genetic resistances can sometimes be the only thing standing between success and total crop failure. One example is resistance to bacterial leaf spot (BLS) in sweet pepper hybrids. When weather conditions favor the development of this disease, there is no effective chemical control - organic or synthetic - that can be applied to the plant. I have personally seen entire plantings completely defoliated due to this pathogen.

The process of incorporating disease resistance into a new variety begins with identifying a suitable source of resistance. This can be challenging as the diversity in cultivated species is sometimes very limited, so breeders often turn to wild crop relatives that they can use in crossing. When the resistance donor is a wild species or related plant which does not look anything like the typical cultivated, the breeder may choose to carry out a back crossing program to eliminate the undesirable wild traits. This method involves selecting progeny from the initial wild x cultivated cross that carry the resistance gene and repeatedly crossing them back to the cultivated parent for several generations until a uniform line which resembles the cultivated plant but has the resistance from the wild donor is created.

Depending on the crop, this process can take many years before a finished line is produced that has the
potential to be a parent in a new hybrid (F1) or an open pollinated (OP) variety. If the resistance gene is recessive, then both the female (seed) and male (pollen) parents of the hybrid would need to have the resistance gene for the resulting F1 seeds to be resistant to the disease. On the other hand, if the gene is dominant than only one of the two parent lines needs to be a carrier.

You might ask how do you know which plants to save for the next generation? In the past, a breeder would expose (inoculate) plants to the pathogen for which resistance is desired. The resulting disease symptoms, or lack thereof, would then be evaluated to determine which plants carry the resistance.

Traditional plant breeding is now being tremendously accelerated by modern breeding techniques that allow you to determine which genes a plant has without having to perform laborious disease screens, simply by taking a tiny bit of plant material (often leaves or seeds) and analyzing it’s DNA for genetic markers (pieces of the DNA that are associated with the resistance genes). These new techniques save the breeder a lot of time and resources because they can eliminate plants without the resistance genes much faster than ever before.

Innovative plant breeding techniques are continually being developed. However, the basic challenges for identifying and utilizing disease resistances in breeding remain the same:
   1. Find a source of resistance
   2. Incorporate it into one or both parental lines
   3. Somehow get back to the original fruit type while “dragging” the resistant genes along for the ride.

A large challenge indeed, but at Johnny’s we appreciate the benefits that resistant varieties offer to our customers and work hard to identify and develop such varieties to support our growers needs.

Rod joined the team at Johnny's as Southeast Sales Representative in 2011. With degrees that include a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master's in Agricultural Entomology, Rod has been in the vegetable industry since 1988. 

The majority of his experience has been gained in field production of major vegetable crops. Rod has broad interest in the many different growing systems utilized by Johnny's customers. Located in Tifton, Georgia, Rod enjoys learning about the challenges that growers in the Southeast are facing. 

Current Sales Territory: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. 

Email » rheyerdahl@johnnyseeds.com 
Direct Line » 229-392-3844

Enter To Win A Weeding Tools Prize Pack

Enter to win!

Spring is finally here- and so are the weeds. Fight back with some of our fast, efficient, back-saving weeding tools.

We’re giving away an exclusive Weeding Prize Package, including a Standard Collinear Hoe, Trapezoid Hoe, Wire Weeder, set of (3) Tubtrugs and a Johnny's gift certificate!

As an added bonus:

Every person who “shares” this Facebook status will ALSO be entered to win a 2nd prize - a Stirrup Hoe!

Simply sign up for our emails:

To enter to win the prize package, simply sign up to receive our emails here. Already actively receiving Johnny’s emails? Then you’re already entered! Don’t forget to “share” our Facebook status here to be considered for the Stirrup Hoe as well!

We will draw winners for both prizes on Monday, June 16th. Good luck!

Using Johnny's Long-Handled Tools

Grow a Gardener this Spring

Shop Sunflowers

At last, spring has come back to the northern hemisphere. Most gardeners spend the better part of a winter leafing through seed catalogs, planning out their garden row by row, and dreaming of warmer weather. Seed catalogs are inspirational, but no seed catalog - not even one as comprehensive as Johnny’s - lists the most important thing that can be grown.

Whether it is remembered or long forgotten, every gardener had a first garden - their first attempt at planting a seed to harvest a meal or pick a flower. For some this happens in adolescence or later in life, but for the lucky, their first garden was during childhood. Once the seeds are planted, an entire host of emotions are usually felt; at first apprehension, then impatience, usually followed by excitement, and satisfaction. When the first seeds begin to germinate and break the soil, an indelible mark is made on the gardener.

Spring is the time that transplanted crops are sown. Peppers and tomatoes, perhaps onions, are being sown in trays to await planting alongside direct-seeded crops like squash and pumpkins. This spring, invite a child to help with the gardening. Have him or her help plant and transplant, weed, and harvest the garden. It can be your child, your grandchild, or a neighbor’s child; the relation is fairly unimportant. The entire process will teach the child foresight and patience, the satisfaction of a job well done, the pleasure of success, and unfortunately in some cases, the bitter taste of defeat. Either way, you’ll be passing on a priceless gift. 

This spring, grow a gardener.

-Anthony Stevenson

Anthony joined Johnny's International Sales Department in 2007 and is the Sales Representative for all countries excluding the U.S.A and Canada. Every spring he looks forward to starting his own garden — something he has done nearly ever year since childhood.
Email: astevenson@johnnyseeds.com
Toll-Free: 877-564-6697, ext. 5310

Johnny’s Visits Hawaii (continues)

Johnny’s Commercial Sales Representative, Lainie Kertesz, recently traveled to Hawaii to visit commercial farmers and farmers markets on the islands. She documented her travels, which we turned into a three-part Blog series. Below is part three of this series:   

Kona, Hawaii

Kona: The "Big Island"

Kona, HI

I timed my trip to participate in an Organic conference in Kona, "Growing Organics: Moving Hawai'i's Organic Industry Forward," sponsored by the Kohala Center. 


According to their website, "The Kohala Center is an not-for-profit, independent, community-based center. The Center was established in direct response to the request of island residents to create greater educational and employment opportunities by enhancing—and celebrating—Hawai‘i’s spectacular natural and cultural landscapes... three core areas of work have emerged: energy self-reliance, food self-reliance, and ecosystem health. These areas of work involve basic and applied research, policy research, conservation and restoration initiatives, public outreach and education – all carried out through local, regional, national, and international partnerships."

Specifically, the "Growing Organics: Moving Hawai'i's Organic Industry Forward," conference was to examine what interest exists, and what supports were needed, to further the growth of organics in Hawaii. Organic agricultural producers in Hawaii currently do not have a local organic program office where they can obtain information on aspects of Organic production. 

The 150 conference participants spent the day networking and identifying where more support was needed. The final report and other relevant documents from this conference are available here.

Kona, HI


Thank you for joining us as we revisit Lainie's trip to Hawaii! We hope you enjoyed the 3 part series.

Explore Our Fast-Growing, Diverse Greens

Johnny's is pleased to offer greens from all corners of the globe.

 

All of our greens varieties can be grown to full size and many can be harvested at the baby leaf stage for salad mixes where they add wonderful flavors, textures, and colors.

 

Create your own custom mixes or try one of our popular, easy to grow pre-mixed selections.

  

Johnny’s Visits Hawaii (continues)

Johnny’s Commercial Sales Representative, Lainie Kertesz, recently traveled to Hawaii to visit commercial farmers and farmers markets on the islands. She documented her travels, which we have turned into a three-part Blog series. Below is part two of this series:

Oahu, Hawaii

My time spent at the Oahu Farmers’ Markets:

I was introduced to Pamela Boyar and Annie Suite by another Hawaiian contact who described them as "...amazing women who helped make Hawaii's underground/direct sales for small farmers possible…and I suspect at some time in the future they will be made saints." These two women manage five farmers' markets around Oahu for vendors selling their own, locally produced products.  I was quite surprised to find out most of the other "Farmers' Markets" around the islands are often re-sellers of products 'from away' rather than locally produced. 

Pamela and Annie took time out of their busy days to take me around to visit at least 10 farmers who sold at their markets. The farmers they introduced me to were quite diverse, both large and small farms growing either aquaponically, hydroponically, or in the field. I was fortunate to experience the Hale'iwa market where there are over 40 vendors at this bustling market.

After spending time on Oahu, I had limited time to make many visits, but did get to see two of Johnny’s the largest customers on Kauai; one hydroponic and one field operation.

Kauai, HI

Stay tuned for part three of Lainie's Hawaii Blog series- coming soon!

Johnny’s Visits Hawaii

Johnny’s Commercial Sales Representative, Lainie Kertesz, recently traveled to Hawaii to visit commercial farmers and farmers markets on the islands. She documented her travels, which we turned into a three-part Blog series. Below is part one of this series:

Oahu, Hawaii

I recently spent two weeks visiting several of the Hawaiian islands, and more miles in a car than I thought possible. 

A little background on growing in Hawaii: 

· Even with a twelve-month growing season, I was surprised to learn that Hawaii imports 85% of its produce (The University of HI plans to conduct a new survey around this import figure).

· Much of the produce grown, primarily lettuce and greens, is sold to the resorts for fancy salads for tourists. Here at Johnny’s, 10% of our total lettuce sales are to Hawaii.

· Some crops are not cost-effective to grow in Hawaii, or are difficult to produce, such as field-grown fruiting crops like tomatoes and peppers, due to insect and disease pressures. 

· There is a mounting interest in growing Hydroponically and Aquaponically for more controlled growing conditions.

My first stop in Hawaii: Oahu: MA’O Organics 

MA'O Organics’ motto is "no panic, go Organic". MA'O's mission is to empower young people to become leaders and to make their island home a more food-secure place to live. The organization is in its 10th year of offering Youth and Leadership training internships for 17-24 yr-old Hawaiians who are pursuing Agricultural Studies.  Beginning with a two-year Youth Leadership Training, interns can go on to a second two-yr Step Up Training.  After completion, Graduated interns can choose to go on to admin work, or to become co-managers and managers at the farm. The diverse produce raised on the 23-acre farm is distributed through a local CSA as well as to markets such as Whole Foods and Foodland in and around Oahu.

Oahu, Hawaii

Stay tuned for part two of Lainie's Hawaii Blog series- coming soon!

Jean-Martin Fortier's "The Market Gardener"

Jean-Martin Fortier and
Maude-Helene Desrochas

ABOUT:

Jean-Martin Fortier is a market farmer in Quebec who, along with his wife, Maude-Hélène Desroches, and their two children, operates Les Jardins de la Grelinette. After 10 years of refining their craft, they’re able to support a CSA with over 140 members and attend two local farmers’ markets weekly.

Jean-Martin has clearly been influenced by the writings of Eliot Coleman, as many of his methods are straight out of Eliot's playbooks.  As a result, he employs many tools that were developed by Eliot and Johnny's. He has even named his farm after one of them. 'La Grelinette' is the French name for what we call the Broadfork, a two-handled fork invented in France by André Grelin in 1946.

Andre Grelin

THE BROADFORK:

The Broadfork was redeveloped in 1998 by Eliot Coleman and Johnny's Selected Seeds. For many years now Jean-Martin has been describing his growing strategies and use of scale-appropriate technology on a website and blog, where he promotes the idea of farming with hand tools (i.e., they don't have tractor) as an alternative way of farming professionally.

In 2012, Jean-Martin published Le jardinier-maraîcher, a 200 page manual for small-acreage organic agriculture. The book quickly became a Canadian best-seller and has sold more than 15,000 copies. In it, he describes (in French) the technical aspects of his operation and the tools that they use to make their labor efficient and cost-effective. Many of the drawings in the book illustrate Johnny's tools, including Broadforks (of course), the Tilther, several seeders including the Six Row Seeder, the Bed Prep Rake, Collinear and Stirrup Hoes, and the Wheel Hoe.

Le jardinier-maraicher

His approach is that 'small is beautiful'. That is to say that he keeps his operation small yet profitable, but it is more than that. It is also about enjoying life, enjoying what you do, and remembering to take time off regularly so that your work remains enjoyable. All this is feasible, he stresses, if your operation is super efficient all the way through.

THE MARKET GARDENER:

In 2013, Jean-Martin also set out to publish an English version of Le jardinier-maraîcher, and in January of 2014, The Market Gardener was published.

Our Tools & Supplies Product Mgr., Adam Lemieux, has this to say about the book:

 “Jean-Martin Fortier extols the virtues of being small-scale, and expertly details the use of scale-appropriate tools (such as Broadforks, seeders, hoes, flame weeders, low tunnels, high tunnels, and many other unique tools) designed specifically for this brand of farming. 

Jean-Martin Fortier

He picks up right where Eliot Coleman has left us, applying many of his cotre principles, but doing it in such a brilliant way as to provide beginning farmers with the information they need to start up and become successful small-scale growers themselves.”

Jean-Martin remains a tools collaborator and field tester for Johnny's; we are proud to carry this fine publication in our line of books. 

You can find The Market Gardener on our website here. 

Save Now on Seed Starting Supplies

Growing your own transplants from seed allows you to choose from your favorite varieties, determine the appropriate planting date, and the number of plants you want. Johnny's seed starting supplies will help you grow your own professional-quality seedlings economically.

Save up to 10% on Selected Seed-Starting Supplies. Now through March 2nd!

An Introduction to Flower Sprouts™

Kaleidoscope Mix (F1)

What are Flower Sprouts™?

Flower Sprouts™ are the result of a cross between kale and Brussels sprouts. The resulting plants produce beautiful, open, florets that have a mild kale-like flavor which only improves with the colder days of the fall.  

When do you plant them?

You may ask why we are talking about a fall vegetable well before spring. Well, when growing Flower Sprouts™ patience is definitely a virtue. This crop requires at least 110 days to maturity from time of transplanting. So the total time to produce this crop from seed to edible floret is close to 22 weeks… that’s why we’re talking about Flower Sprouts™ in February!

What’s the best way to grow them?

In order to produce the sweet kale-like florets, attention to detail and, as previously stated, patience is required. Flower Sprouts™ are grown in a similar fashion as Brussels sprouts; provide a very fertile, well-drained soil, with a pH range of 6.0-7.5.

The seedlings should be started early enough to be ready to be set out in mid to late spring. Growers should provide sufficient irrigation throughout the growing season to help produce tall, strong plants. The sprouts should begin to form by early fall and be ready to harvest starting in mid to late fall.

Like other crops in the Brassica family, such as broccoli and cabbage, the flavor of Flower Sprouts™ will become sweeter and milder when the weather cools in the fall. Flower Sprouts™ are very cold hardy, similar to Brussels sprouts and kale. If you grow in a short-season area, be sure to top the plants about 4-5 weeks prior to the intended harvest season. The tops can be sold and used just like kale.

Red Russian Kale (OG)

How can they be prepared?

Flower Sprouts™ are suited to diverse cooking methods such as lightly steaming, sautéing, stir frying, and roasting. When lightly cooked they will hold their color. The tender, mildly flavored spouts have a taste and texture similar to Red Russian Kale.

When growing Flower Sprouts™ remember to be patient and enjoy!