august

"After a long-anticipated season the numbers are in."

The farm took us through a journey that would kill most people, I think. The lack of experience with a sprinkle of mother nature was a hard pill to swallow. We started off with Juby June strawberries having a delay in growth with a fungus that killed off the entire crop despite a spray schedule. We did notice other farms with large losses as well in Missouri.

We decided to not re-plant strawberries for the 2026 year and focus on our blackberries and raspberries crops instead.

As we went through the season, we noticed that the trellis system was effective and helped produce a full even crop of blackberries. My thoughts about using an RCA trellis system were confirmed with the blackberries with regards to the size and weight. RCA trellis system forces growth to one side of the plant. Limiting space for fruit growth, airflow, and increasing plant destruction. We noticed that the size of the berries made it hard to be confined to one side and even with the traditional system we had limb damage and fruit loss.

So, we are focusing on traditional trellising with a T style design. Increasing fruit production and limiting fruit loss.

Watering was a beast of a job, making it hard to meet the demand with equipment that failed repeatably. Almost enough to make you quit.

Gas Pump pull start plate and rope broke, priming the pump was made difficult by air-leaks in the intake and the elevation made it hard to regulate the flow. Did I mention the sand filter blew-up and we had to patch it.

Using cheap pool filters are not the way to go. You want to purchase a steel or fiberglass body system. Not a plastic type. Note to the beginners.

Drip tape is easy to use but mice love to live around it for well water! Using a hard plastic line for Berries is the only way to go for uniform watering.

We started off with black plastic mulch bedding rows. Quickly was destroyed by the mowers, cultivators and trimmers. So, we now switched over to a mulching system that includes mulch hay, and wood chips. Breaks down for food and keeps the ground moist and cool for the shallow roots.

Additional produce included many test types. However, we worked with Anthonys produce to select types they sell more of or are harder to get. I can't state how important it is to find a produce buyer to support and grow with. Be reasonable with pricing and remember the end buyer has to afford the produce too.

I will make new post over the next few months going into more detail about how we are doing each fix and share on our YouTube page.