Schindlbeck Farms

09/01/2020

Well I haven't commented for months because we're not farming. We did get a good crop of apples this year and our small pumpkin patch is doing outstanding. If things go well and the pumpkins don't rot by Oct 1st we may see if the market in Olean will take us on for a week or two. We'll see. Stupid crows love to peck at the apples. Could use some rain though.

06/13/2020

This is how we sell at market now. Hope it doesn't last too long.

06/12/2020

What??? Two posts in one day? Yep, our apple trees had a good flower this year. Looks like lots of apples set so I'm going to keep up on the sprays to keep the scab away and the bad bugs too. Looking forward to a good crop this year but Mother Nature will decide.

06/12/2020

Weather has been great for the asparagus. Unfortunately too good for rhubarb. So many split stalks. We've gone through all our rhubarb so we won't have any this Saturday. Asparagus on the other hand is doing well. Picked Wednesday, yesterday, and will pick today too. About 3 weeks of picking left. See you at the market.

05/28/2020

I love this weather but it does make the asparagus grow like mad. We picked twice yesterday, (yes twice). Going out to check this morning. Typically we would pick about 2 or 3 times a week. Needless to say we will have a good batch of asparagus this Saturday at market. Rhubarb too! As I am typing this the weather man says patchy frost Monday morning. Back to normal spring temps.

05/22/2020

Finally! We picked asparagus for the first time yesterday and will pick again today. We'll have some (not a lot) for market tomorrow. Probably only about 10 pounds or so but we'll be there. Now to keep the warm weather going.

05/15/2020

We finally have warm weather. 58 degrees this morning. It will take another week of this to get the asparagus growing well enough to have some for market. Looking forward to having some by the 23rd. Getting plenty of rain now. It can stop any time.

05/07/2020

Wasn't going to comment on anything. Was going to head outside and get the tractor running and do some tilling. I looked at the temp and it is 25 degrees out right now and that's not Celsius. It's gonna have to wait except for the rain that's supposed to come this afternoon. Friday and Saturday are rain turning to wet snow with about 3 inches forecast. Asparagus was poking up and it is frozen this morning. Nice.

05/05/2020

I know I haven't posted here in a long time. Primarily because it hasn't been growing weather. Our asparagus is coming very slowly. Can't blame it as the spring has been cold. Would like to have some for market this weekend but it's still too cold. Maybe next week. Rhubarb looks pretty good too. Will take some pics.

08/22/2019

I know what it's like for people with small gardens. When we were growing we had an electric fence around the property and had to contend with a few deer. Now the fence is gone as we only have a few plants and would you believe the deer have devoured the tomatoes, squash, and pumpkins? It is rare for deer to actually eat the rough leaves of squash.
Oh, this Saturday we open our market in our new permanent home at Lincoln Park. What a beautiful pavilion. Here's a couple pics.

06/29/2019

This is our last market day for the year. Hopefully the rain will move out before the start of market. Not much asparagus for today. Time to let the patch go and strengthen for next year.Thank you to all who have shopped with us. See you at the market and I hope you will enjoy the new permanent market building once it is open. I think you will find it enjoyable on wet days like today.

06/22/2019

Another day of asparagus at the market. One more week left after this and then we let it go to grow and replenish its energy for next year. Been a pretty good year, just wish I'd planted more to meet demand.

06/01/2019

You know why you grow asparagus in west Michigan better than New York? Sandy soil and fewer rocks. Spent the past few days w**ding the patch. Got it done last night and sprayed between the rows to kill those w**ds. See you at market later today with asparagus and rhubarb. Oh, that reminds me, I have to w**d the rhubarb now.

05/23/2019

The asparagus is definitely coming along. Weeds too. We'll be picking it again tomorrow as well as rhubarb. We will also have for this Saturday only...Wild Leeks!!!! Went up in our woods this morning and dug a bunch. Here's a picture. See you Saturday.

05/18/2019

Heading to market in the morning with 23lbs of asparagus. Not bad for one picking of our 500 foot patch. Noticed an article in the Oceana County Herald Michigan paper that says cool temps delay asparagus harvest there as well. Rhubarb will have to wait till next week.

05/16/2019

Asparagus has been slow to respond. Going out to pick after super. Will see if there is enough to do market this Saturday. Rhubarb is almost there.

05/04/2019

The rhubarb is coming along. Still a few weeks out. The asparagus is starting to poke up but the normal cool temps are keeping it slow. Unless there is a big warm up in the next week we will probably be at market in about two to three weeks. BTW the Olean market starts on the 11th.

04/09/2019

It's early April. Although we like the warmer temps The ground needs to stay cool so the asparagus doesn't come to early before market starts. I do see the rhubarb poking up. Our first market is still 5 or 6 weeks out.

03/03/2019

FB has been nagging me to post something here for Y'all. Ok, it is still snowing. You can't grow veg in the snow. Besides we have stopped farming to work on the house. We'll see you in the spring when I have to tend to the asparagus and rhubarb. Around May 1.

10/28/2018

Last day of market was yesterday. Not very nice, temp was 38 degrees with rain then entire time. Love the regulars that braved the weather we appreciate you guys a lot. Now to let you know that this was our last year growing veg. We are focusing on working on the house now in preparations of the future. We will still attend market in the spring with rhubarb and asparagus but that is all. See you in the spring.

09/27/2018

Busy, busy, busy. Time to get the pumpkins in from the field and washed and put out for sale. Have had a good harvest of broccoli and cauliflower. Melons were fabulous. Now the weather is turning colder and we might get some of the frost this weekend. Have to protect the tomatoes and lettuce. Here's some more pics.

09/21/2018

This is turning out to be one heck of a tomato year. Wish the lettuce crop would have done nearly as well. Kind of funny when you think about it, we eat combos of food that aren't naturally ripe at the same time all the time. Oh, well. Sad that cucs are done and beans are finished too. Went to pick them last night and all the beans were funny looking so we weren't going to keep them for market. Next week we will have PUMPKINS!

09/19/2018

Things are progressing like crazy with this warm summer. Now the tomatoes and grape tomatoes are ripening like crazy. All the winter squash has been harvested and the pumpkins are waiting to be brought up from the field. Can't remember the last time the squash and pumpkins were ready this early. So the table will be full at market Saturday, just a little shy on the lettuce.

08/28/2018

Couldn't help myself. Here's some more pics of the farm.

08/27/2018

I was going to post some pics from the farm again but decided on putting up some of our stand at the market. Everything you see is ours. From seed to table by just Chris and me. Not bad for a couple middle age folks.

08/17/2018

For market tomorrow we will have the usual; chard, carrots, lettuce (not as much as we'd like), summer squash, zucchini, cousa, cucumbers, lil cucs, green beans, green onions, green, peppers, sweet onions, and new this week a few grape tomatoes and beets. Finally beets. After a long summer of protecting these things we finally have some for this week. Should have taken a picture. Maybe tomorrow at market. Here's a couple from yesterday. Oh, no spinach as we are between plantings.

08/10/2018

Almost time to head outside and start picking. Chris tends to the lettuce first. I'm usually doing the Swiss Chard but have to run up to Eden to pick up corn for another week. 90 mile round trip and 2 hours but it is very good corn. New this week are green peppers. Beans are producing like crazy so we have lots of them. pickles, zuc, and summer squash are still producing like crazy. I saw a few grape tomatoes have turned. I hope something slows down when the tomatoes start coming. The insanity of late August and September harvests is creeping up. See you Saturday.

08/08/2018

Time for some more pics. I have to say this has been one of the best growing years for us in years. A little warm for lettuce and spinach but over all things have been growing great.

08/08/2018

08/03/2018

Busy time on the farm. I could write a boring blog everyday on the happenings. Well we will have Zittels sweet corn again. I think the local stuff should be ready in a week. We only grew a little and it won't be ready for about 3 weeks. Plenty of everything else except for iceberg and spinach which is hit and miss. Every year you can count on some crops being excellent and others struggling. I see a few grape tomatoes starting to turn. Hope to have them for the market in a couple of weeks. See you at the market tomorrow.

07/26/2018

Things are progressing well. This Saturday we will have plenty of lettuce thanks to row cover. Squash is growing like crazy, have to pick every day. Cucumbers and pickles doing well. Swiss chard is huge. This week we will have some beans too. First of the season for us. Carrots and scallions too. We will also be planning on bringing Eden sweet corn from Zittels.
Now for a couple of pictures showing the boldness of the deer.

07/17/2018

I was forced to realize how important it is to keep your core muscles in shape. Found out when I was unloading at the market last Sat and as I picked up a tote of squash felt this sudden muscle cramp in my lower back. Made for a fun Saturday. 4 days later and I'm almost back. It really sucks not being able to work. Chris had to handle a lot these last few days. Oh, here are some pics of the farm too.

07/07/2018

Ok so I forgot to post for a couple (few) weeks. Nice hot weather we've had. Had to work at keeping the irrigation going which reminds me I forgot to turn it on this morning. Lots of trouble with deer eating the chard and lettuce so we began covering with row cover. Worked good until they found a hole and ate the plants through it in part of the row. Also the plants don't fare well when covered in hot humid weather so we have to uncover them during the day and recover at night. Almost on top of all the tasks, almost. As for market today we will have ICEBERG lettuce. Managed to get nearly 20 head. Also have bagged lettuce, a little spinach, a lot of cousa, zucchini, and summer squash, and this week we have shell peas. Looks like a wonderful day for the market, see you there.

06/22/2018

The fence is up but a doe and her fawn are hiding inside tearing up the chard and lettuce. I think we still have some left to bring to market tomorrow. We'll also have asparagus, spinach, and some cousa. Hopefully we'll also be bringing strawberries from Vacco farms. Brought them last week and they flew. Looks like we may have zucchini next week. See you tomorrow rain or shine.

06/10/2018

After 3 weeks of taking just asparagus and rhubarb to market we took a little chard and lettuce yesterday. Would have taken more if the deer hadn't gotten in and munched on a bunch of plants in 3 different plantings. Back to work on the fence.

06/02/2018

I always seems to wait to the last minute to post here. Same stuff for this weekend, asparagus and rhubarb. Plants are doing excellent this year. We have plenty of other stuff started just waiting for it to be ready. Will post some of the latest activities later this week. Time to load for market.

05/26/2018

Our second week at market today. We only have a couple things but many others in the ground and growing. Today at market we will have asparagus and rhubarb. If today is busier than last Saturday which was a bit rainy; we'll probably be sold out before noon. Can hardly wait for the lettuce to be ready. See you there.

05/13/2018

The farmers' market in Olean opened yesterday but we had nothing to take. The asparagus has begun now and we might have rhubarb next week. Managed to get beets, carrots, and peas seeded. Also got some plastic down and will be putting out lettuce, spinach, chard, and summer squash. Spring took its time but it is finally here.

05/06/2018

We're underway! Well at least I've started plowing. A week ago it was snowing and then storms and drenching rain. We do what we can when we can. Posting some pics to start the year. New this year are a couple varieties of pumpkins which makes 12 varieties now. A personal size cantaloupe and a new variety of lettuce. Spring is here.