Monitoring Storm Damage & Trellising Cucumbers

Village Farm Team,

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to rain and our crops. We received a whopping five inches of rain this past weekend in a very short amount of time which meant some quick thinking on our part to dig ditches to divert standing water away from our crops. It also meant preemptively harvesting as many of our tomatoes as possible since excess rain can often lead to the fruit splitting open on the vine. As the sun has returned, we’ve been monitoring our crops to see how they fared and we noticed something very curious. Our yellow summer squash varieties and Eight Ball zucchini seem to have fared poorly yet our other zucchini varieties seem entirely unfazed and are growing bigger by the second. It just goes to show how nature can constantly surprise us season after season!

With a little help and guidance on our end, the cucumbers are really beginning to climb and sprawl across their trellis. They’ve also begun setting blooms which means we’re that much closer to being able to enjoy the first cucumber of the season! Cucumbers are in the Cucurbit family along with squashes and melons. Just like their squash family members, cucumbers produce both male and female flowers on the same plant. It’s easy to spot the female flowers because they have what looks like a very tiny cucumber behind them as you can see in the photo below. We have Suyo Long, Diva, and Marketmore varieties planted.

Now that we’re far enough into tomato season, our larger varieties are beginning to mature. These larger varieties are generally referred to as “slicers” because they are often sliced and used on sandwiches, burgers, and salads. Big Beef is perhaps our most popular slicer and is what you think of when you’re imagining the quintessential tomato. These large fruits are red when mature and are full of tomato-y flavor. We like to enjoy these tomatoes simply, either as part of a BLT or nestled in a burger fresh from the grill.