News and Blog

April 15, 2012

   The fields should be open Monday through Saturday. Field opens at 8:00am. Please bring a container to put your berries in after you pick. The fruit is heavy, nice large berries and easy picking. Unlike most years when I encourage you to wait to pick in volume, I think now is a good time to get started with volume picking.

Note: the one row of strawberries beside ( east side) the two rows with white plastic is a different variety. When you pick these berries be sure to pick them fully ripe. This variety takes longer to reach full flavor than the other varieties.

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We will be at Myrtle’s Market in Myrtle Beach

Wednesday , Friday and Saturday.

Don’t forget about Asparagus, Garden peas, greens, spinach, beets and for organic lettuce, organic turnips, organic chard, organic radishes, organic strawberries. are being picked this week.

Thank you for your interest.

April 15, 2012

   The fields should be open Monday through Saturday. Field opens at 8:00am. Please bring a container to put your berries in after you pick. The fruit is heavy, nice large berries and easy picking. Unlike most years when I encourage you to wait to pick in volume, I think now is a good time to get started with volume picking.

Note: the one row of strawberries beside ( east side) the two rows with white plastic is a different variety. When you pick these berries be sure to pick them fully ripe. This variety takes longer to reach full flavor than the other varieties.

�@

We will be at Myrtle’s Market in Myrtle Beach

Wednesday , Friday and Saturday.

Don’t forget about Asparagus, Garden peas, greens, spinach, beets and for organic lettuce, organic turnips, organic chard, organic radishes, organic strawberries. are being picked this week.

Thank you for your interest.

In an effort to stay better connected with our customers, we now have a Facebook page! We will do our best to keep the website and the new page coordinated in their updates, though they will probably vary somewhat.

Head on over and give it a "like!" https://www.facebook.com/IndigoFarmsMarket And if you haven't already seen the Garden Center's page, then check it out and "like" it too: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Indigo-Farms-Garden-Center/200209116761706?ref=ts  

April 8, 2012 Strawberry Update

The fields should be open Monday through Saturday. Field opens at 8:00am. Please bring a container to put your berries in after you pick. The fruit is heavy, nice large berries and easy picking. Unlike most years when I encourage you to wait to pick in volume, I think now is a good time to get started with volume picking. The weather should be warm enough with lots of sunshine that will help the flavor of the fruit. Although it will be cooler than some weeks we have had in March.

Note: the one row of strawberries beside ( east side) the two rows with white plastic is a different variety. When you pick these berries be sure to pick them fully ripe. This variety takes longer to reach full flavor than the other varieties.

Take a look in the bakery. We have something new in the strawberry line, Strawberry bread. Ask for a sample.

We will be back at Myrtle’s Market in Myrtle Beach

beginning this Wednesday ( April 11 ) .

Don’t forget about Asparagus, greens, spinach, beets and for organic lettuce, organic cabbage, organic turnips, organic chard, organic strawberries. Garden peas are being picked this week. They are really good in a salad.

At this point the blueberries, blackberries, plums and peaches look good. The fruit is really growing for this time of year. I am thinking the high bush blueberries may come in early this year. Perhaps at the later part of this month.

We are planting tomatoes now. We hope to have a strong supply of regular and heirloom varieties. Don’t over look the small grape and cherry varieties. They often have excellent flavor and really do well in salads.

Thank you for your interest.

April 1 2012 Strawberry Update

The fields should be open Monday through Saturday. Field opens at 8:00am. Please bring a container to put your berries in after you pick.

After three decades of growing strawberries I am still amazed each year to observe the process. I am also humbled as I attempt to affect certain changes. It reminds me of going down a familiar river that can change every trip and surprise you at every turn. What may seem routine as you pick strawberries every year is in reality a complex cooperation of numerous factors. It all begins with the soil and much of it’s unseen activity. Each year’s distinctive character holds it’s own package of reasons to be vigilant. Just like the river you have to be ready to respond to the "whatever" in a timely manner. Thankfully, the season has come through with a good beginning. We have lots of fruit, plants are in good shape, flowers still coming and the flavor is good for early berries. We are still working on the parts of the field condition wise but even that is showing progress.

Now is a good time for Asparagus, greens, spinach, beets, kale, kohlrabi and for organic lettuce, organic cabbage, organic turnips, organic chard, organic strawberries. Garden peas are just a few days away from harvest! They are really good in a salad.

At this point the blueberries, blackberries, plums and peaches look good. The fruit is really growing for this time of year.

We are planting corn. This year we are introducing a new super sweet, Silver Duchess. I like the name because for years people have grown to like and ask for Silver Queen. Silver Queen is a normal sugary type. That is good but it loses it’s sweetness quickly because the sugars turn to starch soon after harvest, especially in heat. The super sweet types retain their sugars much longer. I think you will like Silver Duchess.
Thank you for your interest.

Strawberry update March 25

The season has certainly been different from the past three years. With all the mild weather and few chilly nights it appears Spring has about a two week jump on what we normally see. For me it has largely been a challenge to do eight weeks work in four weeks time. Conditions such as these force me to be vigilant in many areas all at once. Insect pressures , disease pressures, weed pressures, timing of crops can actually can all become issues that need attention in conditions such as these. It has been somewhat difficult to know just when would come in. We ask that you bear with us as we work with this season’s unique character.

Strawberries look good. We are now beginning to pick for the market and anticipate opening the field March 31. The organic strawberries are being picked now also.

Asparagus is now being harvested. If you have not had fresh asparagus I recommend you try it. I did not like asparagus growing up because all we had was canned asparagus. Later when we grew our own asparagus was I surprised to find the difference fresh made.

Look for spinach, chard, turnips, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radishes, cabbage, much of this is coming in from the farm in organic and conventional.

If you want to get in on the spring tours we encourage you to plan early.                                 

Thumbs up for NC State !

For many years research at Universities such as NCSU have largely focused on actions that affect production or controls to prevent problems. A breath of fresh air came in the last issue of the college of life science’s PERSPECTIVES magazine. It was clear that a shift to understand the biology and ask penetrating questions is bringing to light some very encouraging signs.

Dr. Keith Harris and NC State alumnus Whit Jones joined together to work with grower Ron Cottle to find a new way to capture the benefits of the goodness in muscadine grapes. Well established, the nutritional benefits of muscadine grapes are the focus of many seeking to improve human health and well- being. Here, this trio have come upon a way to consume the whole grape in a manner to ensure that processing doesn’t destroy the natural benefits of the grapes. After careful washing a powerful blender was used to pulverize the entire grape, hulls, seeds and all. This was made into a frozen smoothie. What is impressive about this are the efforts to maintain the qualities of the grape. It is well known that the hulls and seeds are concentrated sources of anti-oxidants, protein and fiber. The end result was real nice.

An article on addressing childhood obesity revealed an interesting twist to bring together several different areas of science to better seek how to effectively address many of the issues involved in childhood obesity. This included people from the horticulture and animal science fields as well as nutritional biochemistry and psychology fields.

Dr. Sopia Kathariou heads up an intense research to understand how the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter function. Part of the problem with past approaches to problems is the solution only treats the surface of the problem and not the root. As with Listeria resistance to disinfects and exposure to antibiotics allow the bacteria to by pass many procedures that are intended to control food safety issues. By understanding the needs and make up of the bacteria the opportunity to reduce it’s presence in the food chain is possible without attempting to make food sterile or create future problems of stronger pathogen strains.

Dr. Heather Patisaul’s work on finding solid answers to tough questions concerning how manmade chemicals are affecting our lives and the lives of the next generations is very striking! How refreshing it is to see an earnest effort put into finding concrete answers to such important issues. Her work has brought attention to the chemical Biphenol A or commonly known as BPA. This chemical is commonly found most everyday products we use such as water bottles , eye glasses to linings for food and beverage cans. So common is this chemical, traces can be found in the blood and urine of nearly every person in the United States! One of the tough questions relates to it’s possible affects upon human reproduction. This is a serious work on a reality latently hidden from everyday consciousness.

All of this is a reminder of how important the food we eat is. Some healthy questions to ask yourself may well be , Do you know where your food comes from? Do you know how it was grown? How does it’s nutritive value compare to what could be? When our government will not allow the origin of food to be clearly known to consumers , it may be time to ask questions ourselves.

    Would you like to know what the weather will be like in February, March and April? So far winter has been a dramatic contrast to the last two years. The warm weather has been nice but not for everything. Consecutive days of warm weather cause fruit trees to move auxins toward the terminal ends of the trees. This enhances bud development which brings on blossoming. As this process occurs the buds become more susceptible to cold weather damage. One of the difficulties with situations as these is to have the major tasks of pruning, freeze protection and the likelihood of numerous nights of running water on the trees at the same time.  I write all this to help you appreciate the fruit when the season comes. Meanwhile the repairs continue, planting continues and we are thankful to have you as friends and customers.