Nick's Tricks

Nick the Farmer does not disappoint. Along our fence border he has been growing rows and rows of luscious scallions. He treated us to a bunch and told us that he was at the grocery store and saw a pile of wilted yellowing scallions and got them really cheap. He stuck them all in the ground and a few weeks later here we go. They were huge!

The grocery store rubber band is still on there. 

Our Berry Situation

The farm has two types of berries growing along the Western perimeter; blackberries and raspberries. Both came from Nick the Farmer in the form of sticks with a little root ball at the bottom. We never thought they would thrive like this. 

You can see two shades of green in that bush. The darker green are the blackberries, the lighter leaves are members of the raspberry bush. Some of the raspberries are ripe. We had them for dinner last night with a salmon that was swimming in Alaska just a couple days ago.

Nick's Secret

A month ago we spotted freshly turned soil in Nick the Farmer's plot of land. Looking closer we spotted feathers everywhere. This bag could be a secret of his success.

Berries and Broccoli

Recap: A year ago, Nick the Farmer passed over a shoddy twig and told us to stick it in the ground by our fence. That twig sprouted some leaves and grew 8 feet in every direction and produced some kind of mystery berry. This year that twig now spans half the length of our fence and has berries everywhere. We hope to finally resolve what kind of berries they are. Jams and pies galore. Also on the watchlist is our broccoli. This particular one is the first to sprout. On one hand we're happy it worked where we planted it (a little shady). On the other, it's pretty goofy looking and we've got our fingers crossed that the others will be nicer. Maybe there was some pruning we needed to be doing?

Garlic: Will it Happen?

We planted garlic two fall seasons ago and just like they were supposed to, they came up the following spring. It was great. We had so much garlic that we still have not finished it all. This spring Farmer No. 1 planted some remaining cloves in the ground to see what will happen. Nick the Farmer looked on with disdain explaining that it's not going to work and that garlic does need to be planted in the fall. Determined, Farmer No. 1 continued on.

Look! Garlic stalks are coming up. We'll see what happens. 

Harvest: Figs!

They are delicious right off the tree. We'll be making jam and other goodies with them.

Nick the Farmer was on a rampage today as he guided us through the do's and don'ts of fig harvesting.

- Only pick when soft. If you pick them before they are ready nobody wins. You or the birds.

- The white fig sap is bad for the skin.

- The fig leaves are itchy.

Nick the Farmer's Beans

This guy knows how to grow some beans! Always generous, whether it's advice about chicken poop, giving us seedlings, or giving us full-fledged ready to eat vegetables, Nick the Farmer is a good farm friend. We asked if he knows how to blog and he just shrugged and walked away.

Blueberries. Raspberries? Yes, blueberries.

Last year Nick the Farmer passed through the fence a twig with roots and told us to stick it in the ground. It grew pretty large that year alone but it was just sticks and leaves. This year, berries have popped out.

Nick told us that they're blueberries…

"Don't you mean raspberries?" Farmer No. 1 replied.

"Yeah, blueberries" Nick said.

Clearly they're not blueberries and Farmer No. 1 sacrificed life and limb by trying one and reports that they're not even raspberries.

Japanese & Italian Greens

Farm friend Olivia gave us some special Japanese greens seed: Komatsu, Shinkgiku and Mizuna. Our italian neighbor Nick gave us arugula seeds. The greens are all very flavorul and not your average supermarket blend. Everything has sprouted and is almost ready to eat...

More gifts from Nick the Farmer

Nick the Farmer gifted us seeds from the crop of italian long beans he grew last year. That other suspicious package are sunflower seeds that he also gave us. Thanks Nick!

Nick the Farmer's Baby Basil

Our friendly neighbor Nick the Farmer gifted us basil sprouts yesterday. He's got an interesting operation next door and we'll try to go more in-depth soon.

It's been near constant rain the past week but we managed to get those basil sprouts in. Our first planting of this season.

Harvest: Orange Oxheart Heirloom Tomato

We planted two heirloom tomato plants this season. The black plum tomato plant fared well for the first month and a half yielding a couple dozen delicious golf ball sized tomatoes. The other plant, the orange oxheart, has been growing prolificly; five or six feet in height since Farmer No. 1 bought the seedling from the Green Market. In all that growth, it has only yielded this one single tomato. The plant has flowered over and over, it just didn't take. On his visit, Nick the Farmer looked in disgust when he saw we planted pepper plants in the same area. I was only able to translate the concept that the 'roots no like each other'.

Nick the Farmer

Our interaction with Nick the Farmer is usually confined to speaking through a fence where he points to plants and tells us what are doing wrong. A bit of a curious character (he speaks to us in italian with fragments of english), one thing is for certain—Nick knows plants. 

This weekend Nick the Farmer stopped by and gifted some beautiful italian green beans he is growing next door. We are always hungry for tips so was ushered straight back to the farm where we spent a good half hour barraging him with questions, begging for more tips. Here the state of the cucumbers is discussed.

Here, Nick the Farmer teaches Farmer No. 1 how to give the concord grape vine a haircut. Pulling off leaves around the grape bunches makes it easier to see and pick them when they become ripe.
A lot was discussed. More tips and more on Nick the Farmer to come soon.

Harvest: Cucumbers and Thai Hot Peppers

The 2007 cucumber season was extremely productive and 2008 is looking good so far. We harvested five of the biggest cucumbers with many still on the way. The three red dots on the bottom represent the first harvest of the hot pepper plants we have. 

Nick the Farmer's Basil

Last night Farmer No. 1 went out to pick up a slice of pizza. She ran into Nick the Farmer who gave her a bunch of his fresh basil for the pizza. Now, we grow our own basil but when we saw his… that's his basil on the right… we know there is no doubt that we are making more mistakes. A taste test confirms, Nick's basil is soft and tastes like basil. The little leaf on the left that at one point was basil smells nice but has a tough texture and it tastes of air.How hard can it be to grow basil? It's not difficult to grow, it can survive mediocre conditions, but to make the leaves taste better the plant requires maintenance. It is important to limit the height of the plant by regularly pinching off branch tips and cutting off the top of the main stem before it flowers. The flowering screws up the oil content in the leaves so a bushy basil plant is happier than tall leggy one. This image shows post grooming. 
Farmer No. 2 lobbed off a good 8 inches and turned it into a big green bouquet. The grooming should probably go down even further but it already might be too late for the plants. Nick the Farmer said he'd give us some of his.

Update: Cucumbers

The cucumber seeds that the farm planted mid-May are up and looking to climb. If it works out like last year, these plants yield freakishly large cucumbers. The seeds came from cucumber plants that Nick the Farmer gave us last year. 

Local Italian Farmer Gives Tomato Tips

Our neighbor, Nick, is an actual farmer from Italy, and occasionally he shouts gardening tips over the chain link fence that divides our gardens. One day he launched a very heavy black plastic bag over the fence. He explained, in his thick Italian accent, that the secret to his prize tomato plants is chicken poop...and he thoughtfully saved us a big bag. How exciting...and scary...but we trust this man's wisdom, so we took his advice. Here are Nick's step-by-step instructions (translated from broken italian/english) for using chicken poop in your tomato garden... just don't ask us where to buy it.

Step 1: Dig holes at least 12" deep where you plan to plant your tomatoes.

Step 2: Open bag of chicken poop. Here is the kind Nick uses.

Step 3: Add a few shovels to each hole. Cover up with dirt and mark the spots for later planting.

We will keep you updated. If this raises any alarm, please post a comment.