Tomatoes On The Mind

Some mariquitas making themselves at home in a sunflower. I was surprised to see how well sunflowers tolerate cold weather. Next year I’ll make the first plantings a good month earlier than I did this season. It turns out that sunflowers are a great trap crop for Thrips (Thysanoptera) so they a great crop; beautiful, edible, and beneficial for the other crops!

Our Lavender Labyrinth was purple with flowers and humming with bees over the last two months. We welcomed lots of new and old visitors to our farm for our lavender U-Picks during June and July. The lavender crop peaked this year as our lavender plants finally reached maturity and looked full and beautiful.

A lot of the tomato crop is at this stage right now.

A young helper and I hauling a lavender harvest out of the field in the Kubota Mule. Summer Camp @ Mariquita lol

This year’s late spring rains favored the lavender but the persistently cool and wet weather earlier in the year created a situation that has us waiting longer than usual on tomatoes. The soil was too wet to work well in March and, when we were able to turn the ground, it dried out blocky and rough, not fluffy the way the tender little tomato plants like it to be. We had rainstorm after rainstorm with the fronts moving in just frequently enough to keep us from cultivating. The first wave of tomatoes did not thrive, but the weeds did. In the end, we lost the early crop because it would have been expensive to clean and, given the stunted and tortured tomato plants lost in the grassy, lumpy clods, it was not worth the effort. But our second and third crops are doing well and growing according to schedule. The Early Girls and the Heirloom tomatoes will come first, towards the end of August. The Piennolos and the San Marzanos will come last, as always. It’s a drag that it was too wet early on for an early tomato crop, but the good news is that we got plenty of rain, so the dry farming practices that we employ to grow a flavorful tomato will not be as dicey as they can be in a dry year.

These are likely the very first tomatoes that will ripen. I’ll eat them to check for quality.

I know you’re wondering when you will see these tomatoes lining up to  jump on your plate, but it will take at least one more spin around the moon before the first fruit is ripe enough to leave the field. An heirloom tomato salad with the colorful slices all drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkled with basil leaf paired with slices of fresh mozzarella is our version of summer living. The anticipation is making us antsy but, rest assured, once the tomatoes arrive, they will have been worth the wait. There is nothing like a dry farmed Early Girl or San Marzano to get us up and readying our kitchens for a weekend of canning with friends. As August moves along we will begin to see lots of progress in the tomato crop. We will be doing our tomato pop-ups again this fall and will keep you posted via our newsletter and website (Mariquita.com) on all the places and dates we will be. You can also follow us on @https://www.facebook.com/MariquitaFarm/ and @https://www.instagram.com/mariquitafarm/?hl=en

The cool, wet, spring favored the citrus orchard we’ve planted at home. Here is Tassa loving up an Assadas Citron.

Mark your calendar for more farm activities scheduled for October. Mariquita Farm will be part of the Open Farm Tours on Sunday, October 13th. https://ticketstripe.com/events/3079105487429197.

Here are the first marigolds of the season.

One of this spring’s projects was the installation of 63 bee hives. Mariquita Farm was chosen to be the “beta site” by “The Bee Bank” to test their innovative hive design. More on this project later as it merits its own newsletter. The bees seem very happy.

I’m almost finished planting out our main crop of marigolds. We will hold a “Day of The Dead” event as well as open the farm up to a series of marigold U-Picks. Follow the newsletter for updates.

Several other local farms & vendors will join us here to celebrate their harvests; look for stalls from Fruitilicious Farm @ https://fruitilicious.eatfromfarms.com/, and @https://www.instagram.com/pricklypoppyfarm/. Prickly Poppy Farm shares the land here with us at the end of our dirt road and Bethany, the Prickly Poppy Pharmer, is our flower mentor. Our friends Arna & Linda from Farm Cat Preserves, as well as Aniko of Farm Chef https://www.instagram.com/p/C7XMSoxPaTN/  will join us as well. They are frequent collaborators and perpetrators, and use the crops we grow in their recipes.

Here on our home ranch you’ll see our crops of citrus, pumpkins, gourds, herbs, and cut flowers. Right now we’re planting the field of beautiful marigolds, the bright orange sacramental variety that is appreciated used in the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos as well as Diwali, which fall next to each other this year, on November 1st and  2nd We will be selling boxes of Marigold flowers for garlands to decorate your doorways and altars and we will be hosting a Dia de Los Muertos celebration here on the farm with a dinner and salute to our ancestors. This is a fun and colorful event that you won’t want to miss.

The other news we have to share is that our farm is hosting a bee research study with The Bee Bank and our fields have been buzzing all summer with their happy bees. The Bee Bank has an innovative design for their hives and a different perspective on how to care for bees and maintain hive health. If you are a bee enthusiast stay tuned for more activities regarding this project.

Thanks, everybody, for your support. Keep an eye on our newsletter to keep up with the events we will host on the farm later this year. We have been busy here and the farm is thriving. We hope to see you all very soon, tomatoes in our hands and smiles on our faces.

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