A Year In Review

I wanted to briefly talk about some of our successes and failures for 2008. Organic farming has its challenges and we met them head on. Our Fremont property started out with tremendous growth and potential due to its well drained soil and ample rainfall. Most prized in these early plantings were our potatoes and carrots. Also, the sand soil grew some tremendous lettuces and mustards when it did rain. Sandy soil provides ample tilth but can turn to a sandbox quickly with a week of warm dry weather. This became the trend after the second week of June and continued throughout the entire summer. We were adaptable to the weather though. One portion of the Fremont property has a heavier soil type known as "muck ground". It takes a long time to dry out after spring rains but is tremendously fertile. We chose this ground for many of the late plantings like Swiss Chard, carrots and beets. The excellent moisture retention provided good germination rates and crops thrived despite near drought conditions. I would consider these plantings to be the most professional crops we've ever grown due to uniformity, rate of growth, and disease resistance. Many of you had your fill of Swiss Chard I'm sure...however this crop provided a drought alternative when we couldn't grow lettuces.

The Marysville property was pretty much a wash this year. April and May rains really didn't allow us to work up the clay based soil for a good spring crop. We have committed a lot of time and compost to this piece of ground and have seen very uneven results. Our fall root vegetable and green crops have been excellent the past two years though.

Our critical mistake of 2008 was the "attempt" at growing heirloom tomatoes at Marysville. I have found in many cases that heirlooms taste the best when grown in low hummus but minerally rich soil. We produced tremendous heirlooms in 2006 and 2007 this way. We kind of abuse our heirlooms a bit -lots of calcium, greensand, lime and rock phosphate, but minimal water. Generally, once fruit sets are heavy, I tend to stop watering the plants. Fruits tend to ripen quicker and have a much deeper, more pronounced flavor. Nonetheless, our heavy rains in May and early June created a serious disease problem. We had a terminal case of early blight. We gave the plants a nice top dressing but they didn't recover. So, 2008 was a crop failure for heirloom tomatoes, all 107 varieties.

Disappointment is part of market farming. 2009 will renew our plans for tomato excellence and I have a feeling our customers will be ready. We did save our own seed stock for some of our more rare varieties like Nelson's Golden Giant, Morning Sun and Berkley Tied-Dyed Pink.

Our biggest success this year was the potato crop. We achieved record yields, some that were 100 percent higher than standard performance. Notable varieties included Huckleberry, Red Thumb and Island Sunshine. Red Thumb is a red fingerling that we didn't offer for sale. That's because the seed is rare and expensive. We decided to save all of our Red Thumb for seed stock. In 2009, we will plant all 700 pounds of Red Thumb with an expected yield of 7,000 to 14,000 pounds. This beautiful fingerling has uniform A and B size, and has a tender waxy texture. Ohioans love their red potatoes.

2008 was a difficult year to say the least. In 2009 we are aggressively growing in size and scope. Our tractor fleet will grow from two to five. Acreage will expand from approximately fifteen acres to perhaps forty. We've charted over 160 different products that we would like to grow with an emphasis on onions and root vegetables. In addition we are working the CSA programs so that vegetables are rotated more frequently. We look forward to growing for your family next season, please contact us anytime.

Adam

Meet and Greet

Get to Know Your Farmers

Join us on Thursday, December 18th from 4-7pm at Tehku Tea Company in downtown Dublin. Enjoy a cup of tea on us and the fruits of our labor including Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin Scones and Austrian Crescent Potato Soup. We'll discuss CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, and other local opportunities for fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy. Farms planning to attend include 2Silos and VanScoy Farms, among others.

All new commitments for the 2009 CSA will receive a small gift as a token of our appreciation. Whether you're a localvore, a supporter of CSA, or in need of a gift, we have CSA options for

everyone.

For more information email us at farm@waywardseed.com. See you there!

Harvest Dinner with Wayward Seed Farm

Come to La Tavola!

Havest Dinner with Wayward Seed Farm

Trattoria LaTavola

6125 Riverside Drive, Dublin

Sunday, October 26, 6:00 p.m.

Please come join us and meet Rick Lopez, a longtime supporter of local farmers and chef/owner of the award-winning Trattoria LaTavola in Dublin. Rick, Adam and I will team up to produce a seven-course harvest dinner featuring the bounty from Wayward Seed’s harvest, paired with appropriate wines. The dinner will feature a variety of heirloom vegetables, including some that have been included in Slow Food’s flagship biodiversity program, the Ark of Taste. Some of the proceeds from the dinner will go to Wayward Seed to allow us to continue and expand our unique programs.

For more information or to review the menu, please visit the Slow Food website, or you may contact LaTavola directly at 614.760.8700 to make reservations.

We hope to see you there!

An Ohio Farm Fresh Thanksgiving

The time of year is upon us once again to think about cooler weather, fall vegetables and Thanksgiving.

This year, with some assistance from Toad Hill Farm, The Wayward Seed Farm will offer an "Ohio Farm Fresh Thanksgiving" CSA. Included in the CSA:

-One 16-20lb. Free Range Pasture Turkey or One Hubbard Squash
-Green Mountain Potatoes
-Beauregard Sweet Potatoes
-King Richard Leeks
-Rainbow Carrots
-Shunkyo and/or Watermelon Radishes
-Early Wonder Tall Top and/or Chioggia Beets
-Hakurei and/or Scarlett Queen Red Stem Turnips
-Swiss Chard
-Braising Greens
-Salad Greens
-Pate Brisee Pie Crust
-Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
-Butternut or Buttercup Squash
-Gold Rush Apples
-Herbs
-Gourds and Indian Corn

Along with your farm fresh fixings, you will receive a 2008 Thanksgiving tote, designed by and hand printed by Michelle Maguire, recipe ideas and a complete list of ingredients.

The cost is $160 for Turkey and $125 for Hubbard Squash. Payment is due at the time of reservation. Your CSA can be picked up on Saturday, November 22nd between 8am-12pm at the North Market.

For more information or to reserve an "Ohio Farm Fresh Thanksgiving" CSA, please visit us Saturday mornings at the North Market, by phone or email.

August 30th Market

I realize it's been a month since we last posted anything. I can assure you, we've been very busy. Planting for the fall, putting up a walk in cooler, working the WIC markets, planning 2009 CSA...lots of stuff happening these days. The dry weather and late July and August have slowed our fall plantings but over the last two weeks, we've been able to catch up. We're harvesting lots of ground cherries, tons (literally) of fingerling potatoes and also baby leeks. The leeks are really nice, having up to 12 inches of blanching on the shank. Sorry to all you devotees of our salad and lettuce mix, the dry weather is just not helping. We expect to have greens again in the next week or two.

In our most recent harvest trip to Fremont I took some pictures for you. These are the beautiful, and delicious Austrian Crescent Fingerling Potatoes. Remember this, the next time you buy fingerling potatoes from The Wayward Seed Farm, they are fresh. Dug from the ground less than 24 hours before market!

So finally, a market report of what you might find at the market this weekend...

Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries

King Richard Leeks

Collard Greens

Purple de Milpa Tomatillos

Sweet Peppers (an assortment)

Heirloom Tomatoes

Sweet Corn

Chioggia Beets (maybe)

Green Mountain Potatoes

Red Thumb Fingerling Potatoes

Ruby Crescent Fingerling Potatoes

Aphrodite Cantaloupe

Crimson Sweet Watermelon

Eggplant (Fairy Tale, Japanese)

Things are finally drying out but now it's giving us a bit of trouble in getting planted for the fall. Melons will all be here soon!

We have a good start to the day and so our guess for the market...

Lettuce Mix
Arugula
Shunkyo Radish
Hakurei Turnips
King Richard Leeks
Fingerling Potatoes
Huckleberry Red Potatoes
Baby Eggplant
Cabbage
Summer Squash
Green Beans
Wax Beans
Baby Florence Fennel

A reminder to our CSA folks - don't forget your boxes! It should be a beautiful day tomorrow, see you at the market!

Jaime

July 19th Market

A quick note for CSA members - if you have boxes at home, bring them back! We're in need of your boxes!

A good guess for the market tomorrow...

-Baby Eggplant
-Carrots
-Green Beans
-Wax Beans
-Arugula
-Mesclun Mix
-Lettuce Mix
-Baby Fennel
-Arrowhead Cabbage
-Summer Squash

See you all tomorrow!

July 12th Market

At the market tomorrow, we are hoping to have...

-Carrots

-Arrowhead Cabbage

-Green Beans

-Wax Beans

-Pac Choi

-Napa Cabbage

-Cucumbers

-Summer Squash

-Lettuce Mix

-Arugula

-Mesclun Mix

-Baby Eggplant

-Broccoli

-Cauliflower

-Hakurei Turnips

-Scallions

-Baby Fennel

You should eat well this week! We'll see you at the market!

Jaime

Peak Season CSA

It's official...we are offering a "Peak Season" vegetable CSA beginning August 2nd and continuing through October 25th. Sign up forms will be available at each market tomorrow and shares will be limited.

August 2 - October 25

One Person = $140

Two Person = $260

Four Person = $500

ONLY $20 A WEEK!

Pick up locations include Clintonville, Worthington, North Market and Whole Foods Dublin.

For more information or to sign up, contact us at farm@waywardseed.com.

July 5th Market

Rain has definitely hindered our efforts this month. The ground is beyond saturated and hasn't dried out in weeks. This is excellent for water hungry crops like leeks, celery root and carrots. However, if you can't till, you can't plant. Frankly, you can't even walk back there right now without waders.

In spite of, here's our best guess for the weekend markets:

- Hakurei Turnips

- Scarlett Queen Red Stem Turnips

- Collard Greens

- Tatsoi

- Baby Carrots (Sweet!!)

- Pac Choi

- Baby Fennel (really fantastic, let me tell you)

- Micro Greens

- Arugula

- Broccoli Raab

- Mesclun Mix

In the next few weeks, we are expecting potatoes, sweet corn, summer squash, kohlrabi, beets and green beans. And again, not to "beat a dead horse" here but the rain is slowing things up a bit.

For our CSA members, our conclusion based on your response was to request ID. Please email the name(s) of the person(s) picking up your share, should you be doing so. We will request to see the ID of the person(s). Thanks in advance for your understanding.

See you at the market!

Jaime & Adam