Seed order for 2012

We have put in our seed order for next years CSA.  A lot of them have already arrived.  Here is a list of our seed order so far.  If you want to learn more about our seeds you can see pictures and read more at www.johnnyseeds.com.  A few exciting new things we well be growing this year are seedless watermelon(red & yellow), cauliflower(green, white, cheddar, purple), carrots(purple, orange, white, yellow) and lots of new Heirloom Tomatoes.

Bush Beans- Provider(green), Velour Filet(purple), Concador(Yellow)

Beets- Merlin(red), Touchstone(gold), Ace(Red),

Broccoli- Waltham 29, Gypsy
Cabbage- Gonzales(green), Farao(green), Super Red(red),

Carrots- Nelson, Purle Haze, White Satin, Yellow Pak
Cauliflower- Fremont(white), Cheddar(Yellow cheese color), Graffiti(purple), Panther(Green)

Chard-Fordhook(green)

Cucumbers- Albi pickling, Marketmore slicing, Diva seedless

Dry Beans- Vermont cranberry(Baked Bean), Midnight Black Turtle(Black),

Greens- Purple Mizuna, Tatsoi, Hon Tsai Tai

Kohlrabi- Eder(white)

Lettuce- Butterhead varieties- Australe, Red Cross, Ermosa,

Lettuce- Bibb variety- Buttercrunch

Lettuce-Romaine variety- Flashy trout back, Winter Density, Helvius,

Cantaloupe- Maverick, Athena

Onion- Walla-Walla, Gunnison(yellow), Ruby Ring(red)

Pac choi- red choi(red), black summer(green)
Peas- Caselode(shelling), Snow Sweet(snow/sugar)

Hot peppers- Serrano, Highlander, Hungarian Hot Wax,

Bell Peppers- Flavorburst(Yellow/orange), Ace(green/red), Yankee Bell(green/red)

Pumpkin- Winter luxury(pie)

Radish- Rover(red), D'Avignon(French),

Rutabaga- American Purple Top,

Summer Squash- Sunburst(patty pan), Golden Glory(Zucchini), Plato(Zucchini)

Winter Squash- Honey Bear(acorn), Waltham(Butternut), Burgess(Buttercup), Sunshine(Kabocha), Confection(Kabocha), Cha-Cha(Kabocha)

Tomato-Sun Cherry(red), Smarty(grape), Mountain Fresh(Red), Pink Beauty(red)

Heirloom Tomatoes- Brandywine(red), Moskvich(red), Rose(red), Striped German(red/yellow), Green Zebra(green)

Turnip- Purple Top White Globe

Seedless Watermelon- Sunshine(yellow), Sweet Bite(red), Farmers Wonderful(red),

Potatoes we get from Albert Lea Seed house and will include- Yukon Gold, Kennebec, Pontiac, Nordland, All Blue.  Fingerling varieties include French, Austrian Crescent, and Russian Banana.

Looking towards the future of our farm

This winter we will be investing in a Eco weeder II.  This will dramatically increase the size of garden we can manage.  Weeding is never ending but this should help us out. 

Planting Garlic

We have been planting garlic lately that we will harvest next summer.  We have purchased our garlic from Burpee and planted these varieties Purple Glazer, Transylvania, and Spanish Roja.

Garden picture from atop grain bin

Here is a picture of our main garden from atop our grain bin.  About half of it has been rototilled but there is a bit of cleaning up to do before we can till the other half.

Other farm equipment

Here is a pic of our Massey tractor we use for a lot of things around the garden.  The other picture is of our husqvarna rototiller we use to prepare seed beds before planting.

Investing in our farm

After the great season we have had.  We are investing in our CSA's future with the purchase of this new 3pt Landpride Rototiller.

Welcome to Oak Knoll Farm

We are in our first year offering CSA shares.  What an exciting year it has been.  Our CSA farm Oak Knoll is part of our family corn and soybean farm.  We have taken a few acres of our grain farm and converted it to (non-certified) organically grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs.  Our season begin in late February starting seeds such as onion, head lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and other cold crops.  In early April we transplanted some of these crops.  In April we started more crops such as heirloom tomatoes, watermelons, and cantalopue.  These crops were transplanted in mid-may.  Along with direct seeding lots of other crops we have had quite a good year harvesting all of these crops.