Questions from the Farm

We get lots of questions from community farm participants. Here are questions that came up this week.

1) How do you store peas in fridge after taken out of their pods

1-2 weeks. If you dry them (unrefrigerated), they can last for 9+ months

2) Can you feed bad produce to farm animals?

We need to define “bad” in order to answer that question. If produce is rotten or attacked by fungus, then you don’t want to feed that to farm animals. If produce is “ugly”, i.e it has been attacked by bugs or laid on the ground or maybe overripe but still not rotten, then you can feed it to farm animals. Some farm animals are more tolerant than others of the quality of food you feed them. When food becomes rotten then it can be dangerous for farm animals.

When we process food as part of preserving it, there is also some amount of waste. That waste usually goes to our chickens. They love it.

3) Any year-round crops?

Yes, we could grow kale year round. Maybe garlic chives. Lettuce can be grown most of the year. It doesn’t do well in the summer.

4) How long does Okra keep producing for?

Okra will stop producing at the first frost, but production will usually slow down after the low temperature reaches the mid 50s.

5) How big can radishes get?

Salad radishes can get the size of a half dollar, but you want to harvest them when they are between the size of a nickel and a quarter. Once they are quarter size the taste starts getting too strong to eat.

Daikon radishes, which we just planted, can get to be several feet long in optimum soil conditions.