Here at the farm, we all focus on the potato harvest during September and October. After tending to the crop during the spring and the summer, the last step is to get the potatoes into the storage buildings before the weather turns. These are our Yukon Gem potatoes rolling along the belts of the harvester into the bulk truck. Yukon Gems are a favourite potato of our customers. They are an extremely versatile potato, and make excellent fries, home fries, mashed and baked potatoes. We will be growing more of those as we continue to look for a substitute for Yukon Gold potatoes which are becoming obsolete. You can visit “The Hypnotic Harvester” to see another video of our potato harvester in action.
 If you had to work all weekend, wouldn’t you like to be here? It was a beautiful weekend for the potato harvest. We pushed hard to get as many loads as we could into the storage while the weather cooperated. If you look carefully, you can see the potato harvester at the very end of the field. You can visit “The Hypnotic Harvester” to see a video of the potato harvester in action.
As we spring into summer, I have one last planting video to share. This is an overview of how we prepare our seed bed for our soybean crop. We start with the disc harrow to break up large clumps of soil and break up weed roots. Fertilizer is spread and worked into the ground with the cultivator (which also creates an even seed bed.) Next the soybeans are planted. The final step is rolling the soybean seeds to press them into the soil. The roller also pushes small rocks deep out of the way of the harvester.
Soybeans are an essential rotation crop here at the farm. We’re working on a three year rotation cycle to give our land a break from the potato crop. The rotation crops we plant include grain corn, sweet corn, soft red winter wheat, pumpkins and soybeans. These crops boost our soil nutrients and help us manage weeds so the field can produce a bumper crop of potatoes every three years. You can visit “Planting Sweet Corn” to see a video showing how we plant another rotation crop. Meanwhile, at the back of the farm…While Johnny has been stealing all the social media glory planting our potatoes, Curtis has been quietly planting our highly anticipated sweet corn crop for many weeks now. The planting of sweet corn is spaced out over 2 months to ensure that we always have a ripe section to pick for our customers. This video was shot as Curtis just started planting our second field. You can visit “Sweet Corn Fields” to see an aerial video of our sweet corn fields in full flower.
Let’s celebrate “Local Food Week” by introducing you to the farmers who plant our crops. These dedicated men plant our potatoes, sweet corn and all the rotation crops that are vital to our soil health. Thank you to John, Curtis, Doran and Mike for working tirelessly to ensure the crops are planted in a timely manner! You can visit my “Recipes” section if you’re looking for inspiration for delicious recipes that support local farmers.
|
The Common-TaterThompson Potato FarmFarming is fascinating! 
Archives
September 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|
© 2024 Thompson Potato Farm
.