What's Been Growing

Our most prolific crops so far are the diverse family known as weeds. We've been really behind this year so we are taming the beasts and finally getting the season underway. 

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?

Farm Film: Clean-up 2009

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.

It is February. Is this alive?

Or just frozen? There are a few plants that have kept their green color this far into winter. This particular green onion must have been too small to pick during our final harvest. And now… we're just scared. We might break a tooth trying to get through that.

Plant Problems: Aphids

Natural pest control is important to Brooklyn Farm. In the spring we found a outbreak of aphids chomping on the crops. In response we released a platoon of aphid killers: ladybugs. Now that it's autumn we haven't decided what to do. Apparently you can just spray off the plants with a strong stream of water and the aphids won't return to the same spot.
But maybe these aren't even aphids. Does anybody know?

Plant Problems: That is not kohl rabi

The seed packet is labelled kohl rabi. There is no way that this plant is kohlrabi. This plant looks an awful lot like a dandelion. That would mean that the seed company is selling packets of weeds under the guise of cabbage. Good thing that dandelion greens are actually extremely nutritious cooked or raw.
Bad thing that the growing season is extremely short… as the leaves get bigger the taste goes more bitter. A taste test Farmer No. 2 confirmed that the leaves are in fact bitter. The plants have also flowered which is another sign that we missed harvest time. At least the hundreds of bugs loitering on the stalk are enjoying themselves.

Plant Problems Post 2

The brussels sprouts leaves look like swiss cheese. Baby caterpillars have been spotted eating the plant before us. Preliminary online research found this article which describes the evil Caterpillar of the Small White butterfly as the culprit. "Pick off and destroy…"

Plant Problems Post 1

Something is going terribly wrong. Leaves on our swiss chard have not been faring well. Theories range from too much sun or too much water. Online research prompted us to remove the dry leaves (and compost them), but keep the stems because they are still edible. There's no need to wait until the leaves are giant grocery store size swiss chard…we can pick the leaves earlier before they dry up. This discovery resulted in a delicious dinner—

Swiss Chard with Onions

Weed or Vegetable?

Early season can be difficult for neat freaks that look out for any sightings of unintentional plants. From seeding, incidental lines of growth is a sign of vegetable, everything else is an enemy.