Johnny's 2012 Common Ground Fair Raffle Winners Announced

2012 Common Ground Country Fair — Raffle Winners

Johnny's Selected Seeds is pleased to announce the following raffle ticket winners from the 2012 Common Ground Fair:

• Janis Albright of South Portland, Maine won a $100 Gift Certificate
• Karelyn Closson of Portland, Maine won a $100 Gift Certificate
• Alan Schultz of Worthington, Massachusetts won a $100 Gift Certificate

• Johanna Davis and Adam Nordell of Songbird Farm won the High Tunnel raffle. Songbird Farm is a certified organic vegetable and grain farm situated on six acres of fertile bottomland along the Sandy River in Starks, Maine. 

Johanna Davis and Adam Nordell of Songbird Farm

Johnny's 2012 Fryeburg Fair Raffle Winner Announced

2012 Fryeburg Fair — Raffle Winner

Johnny's Selected Seeds is pleased to announce and congratulate the winner of our 2012 Fryeburg Fair Raffle:

Mikaela Ebitz of Bangor, Maine won a $100 Gift Certificate

Johnny's Demo Plot at the 2012 Fryeburg Fair

Johnny's Selected Seeds — 2012 Fryeburg Fair

Jordan Gardens' 2012 Fall Pumpkin Festival

Great Pumpkins !

Owner Wayne Lobley, together with family, friends, and the Jordan Gardens staff in Machias, Maine hosted the Annual Pumpkin Festival on September 15th, 2012, and Johnny's Maine-based Territory Sales Representative, Joy Frost, was on hand at the event as a judge again this year.

The three Pumpkin Growing Contest categories were 'Smallest,' 'Largest,' and 'Best Decorated Pumpkin.' Those eligible to enter the contest were children 12 years and younger (at the time of planting) and living in Washington County, Maine. Johnny's Selected Seeds donated all the pumpkin seeds used to grow entries for the event, and Jordan Gardens provided the planting instructions in April.

This year’s Annual Pumpkin Festival offered hay rides, a donut-eating contest, a pumpkin patch, a maze in Jordan Gardens' hay field, and many more activities and games, such as pumpkin bowling and floral arranging.

Below are some photos of the many great pumpkins grown this year...

The Pumpkin Voted 'Most Creative' by the Judges

A Look at Some of the Great Entries This Year

The Check-in Booth at the Event

Another Line-up of Great Contest Entries

Some of the 'Best Decorated' Pumpkins

The Winner of the 'Smallest Pumpkin' Category

Winners of the 'Largest Pumpkin' Category
(pumpkin weighing in at 90 lb.)

'Best All-Around Pumpkin' Winner

The Crowd — Awaiting the Judges' Declaration of Winners

Learn more about Jordan Gardens >>

Check out Johnny's wide selection of superior pumpkins >>

What's New at the Farm

Harvesting Tomatoes for Seed

After a hiatus of several weeks I’m back to writing about what’s new at the farm. The cool and sometimes crisp mornings signal that the end of another growing season is fast approaching. The days are noticeably shorter, and there’s less heat in the sun than there was. On a brighter note, the humidity has dropped off and it’s great working weather.

We started harvesting tomatoes for seed this week, so I thought I’d share some photos of the process:

We’re harvesting Brandywine tomato here. This is about a quarter of an acre in this field; we have another three-quarters of an acre, too. Our “Vine Harvester” is on the right side, hooked up to our Farmall 200. This machine separates the tomato seed and juice from the majority of the pulp. We only use this machine on larger seed productions, as it’s harder to clean than our smaller unit. The first stage of the seed harvest involves picking the tomatoes, filling up all the buckets, and starting up the seed separator.

 As the tomatoes are dumped into the hopper, they are crushed to release the seeds and the juice. Not ground, for we don’t want to damage the seeds, but rather crushed. The crushed fruit are then dumped into the rotating drum, where the separation takes place.

 Once the slurry is collected at the bottom of the machine...

 ... it is placed into barrels to ferment overnight.

 The next morning it looks like this.

The gel coating around the seed has broken down and the seed is ready for sluicing.

The sluice is filled with water and the slurry mixture is added. The good seed sinks to the bottom while the skins, dirt, pulp, and immature seeds float off. Here’s a shot of the good seed waiting to be removed from the sluice.

Once the seed has been taken out of the sluice it goes into one of our seed dryers, and then into our controlled atmosphere storage to await milling. In October, it will be cleaned further and then sent to our warehouse for storage and packaging.

Working for a seed company like we do, we get to see what we call “seed-to-seed.” We start the seed in the greenhouse, grow the plants, and harvest the seeds from these plants. When we grow these crops again, we’ll use seed that was grown here previously—a full circle, you might say.

Until next time, I’ll be in the field. Enjoy the changing of the seasons

—Brian
09/17/2012—Albion, Maine

Johnny's Attends the 2012 Growing Power Conference

Johnny's Maine-based Territory Sales Rep, Ken Fine, recently attended the 2012 National-International Urban & Small Farm Conference in Milwaukee, WI on September 7- 9.

Growing Power first hosted this event in 2010. Nearly 1500 participants gathered at the Milwaukee State Fair to share ideas for building healthy and resilient community-based food systems. The conference was diverse in every sense. It included farmers, aspiring farmers, renewable energy experts, urban planners, corporate executives, politicians, academics, chefs, microbiologists, and people from countless other walks of life. (http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org/)

Growing Power offered tradeshow participants and attendees tours of their various farm sites throughout the Milwaukee metropolitan area. There were 5 different tours of these facilities, based on specific growing interest.

Ken Fine had a booth set up at the conference, #302, where he offered tradeshow attendees a shot at winning a $100 Johnny’s gift certificate, provided growing advice and spoke about Johnny’s newest products. Ken also presented a workshop on "Strategies for Growing Produce on Any Scale-Session" Saturday, September 8^th.

You can learn more about the Growing Power conference at their website >>>

Learn more about the Conference at: http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org/ Learn more about the Conference at: http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org/ Learn more about the Conference at: http://www.growingpowerfarmconferenc

 

The first day at the Growing Power Conference

Trade show participants at the Johnny's booth



Johnny's customers Barry Colley and Patrick Faulkner at the booth

Learn more about the Conference at: http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org/ Learn more about the Conference at: http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org/ Learn more about the Conference at: http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.

Johnny's Attends the 2012 Bejo Seeds Open House

At the beginning of this week, members of Johnny's staff traveled to the 2012 Bejo Seeds Open House and Demonstration Trials in Geneva, NY. Members of our Purchasing Department, Research Department and several of our Territory Sales Representatives attended. Our staff drove the 7+ hours to upstate New York on Monday morning and back to Maine again on Thursday.

At the Open House, Johnny's had a demonstration plot of Basil, Beans, Squash, Tomatoes, Swiss Chard, Melons, Eggplants, and Peppers. In addition to our Demonstration Plot, we had a booth where members of our staff were on hand to answer various questions and catch up with customers. We also had equipment demonstrations of our latest tools and supplies.

See photos below of our booth, the Demonstration Plot, and some of the Johnny's staff interacting with customers and members of the Bejo Seeds company.

A Look at the Demonstration Plots

The Johnny's Booth

A Close-up of our Chard Growing
in the Demonstration Plot

Two of Johnny's Territory Sales Reps,
Amber and Rod, Speaking with Customers

A member of the Canadian Sales Team,
Randy, and Tony of Caltabiano Farms using
Johnny's Quick Hoops™ High Tunnels

  

Cabbage Trials

Johnny's Territory Sales Rep, Amber, Speaking with
Sandy Arnold of Pleasant Valley Farm

Some of Johnny's Sales and Research team
speaking with members of the Bejo Seeds staff 

Johnny's staff going through the Demonstration Trials

Johnny's Raffle Winner Announced

Kissimmee, FL -- Ande Becker of Organic Toms in Monticello, FL was the winner of our Florida Small Farms Show raffle recently! The prize was a $100 Johnny's gift card. 

The Florida Small Farms Show took place July 27-29th, 2012.

Johnny's Selected Seeds Now 100% Employee Owned

Almost forty years ago Rob Johnston had a vision. He identified an opportunity for a new kind of seed company; one that would find the most adaptable varieties with the best flavor and sell them to gardeners and growers. By remaining true to Rob’s original vision, the Company has grown to include more than 130 full-time employees and a loyal following of thousands of customers worldwide. The mission of Johnny’s Selected Seeds—to help families, friends, and communities feed one another by providing superior seeds, tools, and information—is lived by the employees every day. In 2006, a plan was put in place for the company to become an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) with the intention of the ESOP Trust owning 100% of the shares by 2016.  In June of 2012, the Employee Stock Ownership Plan Trust’s was able to acquire 100% of Johnny’s Selected Seeds from founder, Rob Johnston, ahead of schedule.

At a recent Company event held at Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ Research Farm in Albion, employees, the Board of Directors, and long-time friends recognized Rob for his foresight. Rob and his wife, Janika Eckert, were honored for their dedication and tireless work in accomplishing the goal of employee ownership. Mary Gomane, an employee and ESOP Trustee, stated “This is a wonderful retirement benefit, and I am so grateful to Rob and Janika for making this decision”. With employees being represented by the Trust, the Company is poised to continue its mission and expand well into the future.

What’s New at the Farm? 7/20/2012

How time flies! Seems like just a few days ago here we were:

And now here we are today:

Same field just a different view. These are squash and pumpkins mulched with hay and in the background is tomatoes.


Here’s a view of the farm in March:

And here it is today:

I guess my thought for today is where does the time go. Let’s see; in February and March we couldn’t wait for spring to get here. In April and May we accomplished much field work earlier than we can remember and then it rained and rained a lot in the next four weeks. Planting and transplanting took place in two and three day spurts and some field were planted by hand to get the plants in.


Then it seems once we had gotten all that rain, we got two or three weeks of hot and humid weather. Talk about being rough on plants! Many crops like the greens and some of the brassicas went directly to bolt stage so we didn’t get much of a harvest. So far we had a dry & early spring, followed by too much rain, then a hot and humid spell followed by no rain. Sounds like farming to me. Now we’re irrigating just about every day; trying to keep the crops from burning up.


And the critters are enjoying our crops as well;’ we have a large population of grey squirrels here on the farm, along with woodchucks, porcupines and skunks. Yippee! Insects are showing up earlier this year but, and I say this quietly, diseases are being held at bay with the dry and warm weather. Cucumber beetles first flush has come and gone and squash bugs are here and there already – about three weeks early this year.


Until next week, enjoy the summer. Brian

The Bangor Daily News Profiles Johnny's Customer North Branch Farm

The Bangor Daily News recently ran a story, "Young farmers working together on the midcoast," on Johnny's customer North Branch Farm. Located in Monroe, Maine, the farm is operated by Tyler and Seth Yentes who bought the operation at just 20 and 23 years old. 

The farm is diverse in its products and the sharing of responsibilities. Seth spearheads the apple orchard and the fruit tree nursery. Tyler handles the dairy cows. Seth’s wife, Anna Shapley-Quinn, handles the vegetable gardens and their winter community-supported agriculture (CSA) operation. Tyler’s partner, Elsie Gawler, 22, oversees the sheep and fleece.

“We all have our responsibilities but when there is a busy time, like planting vegetables or the orchard, we all work together,” said Gawler.

For larger projects, such as the orchard planting, they enlist the help of friends. This spring, a crew of about 15 people planted about 440 trees in two days.

They have applied for organic certification from the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association. They hope to receive their certificate this year. 

Read this entire article here at The Bangor Daily website

Visit the North Branch Farm website here

Photos: Early July at Johnny's Research Farm

It's July, and here in Maine we have had unusually high temperatures recently. Our team at the Research Farm have been busy in the fields, tending to crops and fighting off weeds.

Below is a photo taken at the farm in Albion last night, of the fields being watered.

Crop Suggestions for Fall Planting for U.S Northern States

It's time to look ahead to fall and winter markets, yet, it may still be so hot you just don't want to do anything! Although it may seem early to begin thinking about fall crops, in most of the United States mid-summer is the time to schedule these crops.

Kale is harvested in mid-September from a low tunnel built from Quick Hoops™ at the Village Farm in Freedom, ME

You will need to pay extra attention to seeds and seedlings to prevent them from perishing in the heat, but once you get them established, they will thrive as the weather cools off.

• Johnny's Fall Planting Calculator is a great tool to determine the dates crops need to be planted outside without season extension products.


• If you are going to grow in hoophouses, Quick Hoops™ High Tunnels or even under row cover, your planting dates can be later than the calculator advises. High and low tunnels constructed with our Quick Hoops™ Benders allow you to extend the growing season for cold-hardy crops with a very late season harvest or overwintering for early spring harvest.

Below are some recommended fall crop varieties for planting under cover, such as a Quick Hoops™ Low Tunnels, Quick Hoops™ High Tunnel or hoophouse:

Forest Green Parsley

Late July – Early August Sowing:

Carrots: Napoli, Nelson, Mokum

Salad turnips: Hakurei (for late fall/early winter harvest)

Beets: Red Ace (for late fall/early winter harvest). All varieties are good for fall planting, maturing in 45-55 days (longer in fall because of decreasing day length).

Scallions: Evergreen Hardy White

Parsley: Forest Green

Racoon Spinach

August - Early September Sowing:

Greens: Vit is an ideal winter salad item, maturing in 50 days. Vit is a versatile, vigorous, mildew-resistant variety. Other suggestions are Arugula, Sylvetta, Claytonia, and Minutina.

Spinach: Tyee is the professional growers' favorite for fall crops and overwintering. Other variety suggestions are Space and Racoon. Also, Python is a great fall bunching Spinach.

Asian greens: Mizuna, Komatsuna, and Tatsoi

Lettuce: Ruby Sky (Redleaf), Green Forest (Green Romaine), and Sylvesta (Green Butterhead) are all disease resistant and cold tolerant. Plant these up to 60 days before first frost for cool weather (fall) harvest.

Radishes: Rudolf (Red), and Miyashige (Daikon). Crunchy Royale is also a nice hybrid for fall production. 

Mizuna Asian greens

September – Early October Sowing:
Spinach: Tyee, Space, and Racoon
Greens: Arugula, Sylvetta, Broccoli Raab, and Minutina
Asian greens: Mizuna, Komatsuna, Tatsoi, Suiho Chinese Broccoli
Herbs: Cilantro: At just 55 days to maturity, this cool-loving herb can be cut well into fall with some frost protection. Calypso has full, bulky plants that provide a high leaf yield.

Radishes: Rudolf, and Miyashige

For additional crop suggestions for Fall planting, head to Johnnyseeds.com.

Johnny's Small Equipment for Vegetable Growers Workshop with NOFA VT

Join Johnny’s Tools Manager, Adam Lemieux, and Territory Sales Rep, Chris Hillier, along with NOFA VT for a tool demonstration for gardeners and commercial growers. See weeding, seeding, transplanting, cultivating and harvesting tools in action, try the tools yourself, troubleshoot with tool experts, and learn how to set up a small high tunnel.

Hosted at Alchemy Gardens in Shrewsbury, VT, the workshop is Wednesday, August 1, 2012 from 4 p.m- 6 p.m.

Visit the Alchemy Gardens website
Learn more about this event at the NOFA VT website

Read our blog post on the small equipment demos that took place at Tuckaway Farm in Lee, NH on May 15th. Our workshop at Alchemy Gardens will be very similar to this.