Market Farming

[robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>]

I don't know anybody growing traditional matted bed berries anymore. A
few years ago everyone switched to growing annual berries. The Chandler
variety is number one, planted in the fall on fresh clean soil, covered
with row covers in December, harvested in spring then plowed under. No
need to fuss with weeding all summer and less danger of disease or
insect buildup. Sweet Charley is an early version of Chandler but very
sensitive to frost. Harvest season for Chandler is about three weeks.
They are sensitive to "fascination" after a cold winter, this year local
yields even with the dark wet weather were up to 14000 pounds per
acre...Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.

pam AT twinoaks.org wrote:

> We grow 1400' organic strawberries (more than
> one
> variety), and have been replacing one quarter
> of the
> rows each fall. We don't like the quantity of
> weeding
> and thinning this involves. This spring one
> patch all
> but drowned. We're going to use this
> opportunity to try
> switching to replacing plants after 2 seasons. I
> have
> several questions I'm looking for help on.
>  1. I read that you should avoid growing
> strawberries where nightshades were growing
> previously (to avoid spreading Verticillium Wilt).
> Our
> new strawberry patches usually follow sweet
> corn
> undersown with soy, which fits nicely within the
> recommended previous crops (grasses,
> brassicas,
> legumes). What about growing tomatoes and
> peppers
> in the year following the strawberries?? We'd till
> in the
> strawberries in June, after 2 years of fruiting,
> grow
> summer cover crops, plant rye and hairy vetch
> in early
> September, and do organic no-till tomatoes the
> next
> year. Is this risky?
>  2. How would I recognise Verticillium Wilt from
> all
> the other ills that tomatoes are prone to in a
> humid
> climate? (We're in zone 6b in central Virginia).
> Are
> there any good resources to distinguish
> diseases?
>  3. We often propagate from our own plants,
> transplanting runners in October. Could I do
> this
> earlier (zone 6b)? September? Late August?
> We have
> overhead irrigation only at this point.
>  4. I've read of planting out "dormant root
> plants"
> in late summer. What are these? Could I dig up
> runners now and refrigerate them until planting
> time?
>  Any help with these questions would be
> appreciated.
>  Thanks,
>  Pam Dawling, Twin Oaks Community, Louisa,
> VA
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
>
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