U-pick strawberries this evening starting a@ 5 PM(Monday June 10)

We are opening for the second u-pick picking of the season this evening (Monday June 10, 2024) starting at 5 pm. Picking conditions in the early kinds look really good for tonight.

Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 5 PM; Wednesday, starting 2 PM (no morning picking on Monday’s and Wednesdays); Saturday, starting 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 8 pm on Monday and 6 PM on Wednesday and Saturday.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buying empties from us. Quart boxes 25 cents each. If you are buying empty containers from us please pay when you get them rather than after you are done picking to minimize confusion as to what is going on.
NO DOGS in the field or stand areas. We will be using the same random picking pattern that we did last year. This means that you may start anyplace you wish in the patches that are open as long as you are not cutting in front of someone. It is mandatory that when you are picking that all the ripe berries are picked as you move No roaming or grazing type picking. A section of row must either be picked or not picked when you leave. We will be scouting the patch and keep suggesting where you will find good picking.
Pricing u-pick: $5 per Quart if less than 8 quarts and $3.40 per quart if more than 8 quarts; $27.20 for an 8 quart tray. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2.30/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts). If you pay by credit card there is a 3% surcharge added to the above prices and you will need to use the inside checkout station rather than outside express options. Daniel

2024 u-pick strawberry information

We are opening for the first u-pick picking of the season Saturday June 8, 2024 starting at 7 am. Peak season is still 7- 10 days out.

Hours for u-pick are Monday starting at 5 PM; Wednesday, starting 2 PM (no morning picking on Monday’s and Wednesdays); Saturday, starting 7 AM. This repeats through out the whole season. The patch closes when the berries are all picked or at 8 pm on Monday and 6 PM on Wednesday and Saturday.
When you arrive you do not need to stop at the stand to weigh your containers if you know the empty weight already. Also you do not need to stop if you are picking into standard Quart containers.
You have the option of bringing your own containers or buying empties from us. Quart boxes 25 cents each. If you are buying empty containers from us please pay when you get them rather than after you are done picking to minimize confusion as to what is going on.
NO DOGS in the field or stand areas. We will be using the same random picking pattern that we did last year. This means that you may start anyplace you wish in the patches that are open as long as you are not cutting in front of someone. It is mandatory that when you are picking that all the ripe berries are picked as you move No roaming or grazing type picking. A section of row must either be picked or not picked when you leave. We will be scouting the patch and keep suggesting where you will find good picking.
Pricing u-pick: $5 per Quart if less than 8 quarts and $3.40 per quart if more than 8 quarts; $27.20 for an 8 quart tray. All containers are expected to well filled but not heaped. We will adjust prices up or down as needed for over or under-filled containers. By the pound price is $2.30/# (limited to bigger containers or larger amounts). If you pay by credit card there is a 3% surcharge added to the above prices and you will need to use the inside checkout station rather than outside express options. Daniel

Strawberry Update

The strawberry plants are hanging full of little green berries and flowers. As far as I can judge so far this year is completely normal, they are developing just right, neither early nor late. It is too soon to give exact dates as to when u-pick will start yet, however I estimate that u-pick strawberries should begin in about two weeks from now give or take a bit. (mid June) There is one area where the deer hit hard back in the winter that is missing a lot of plants. The snow cover usually helps protect some from the deer. Most of the patch however is just as pretty as can be. I am anticipating a good crop. I will post closer to time details about hours etc. We are considering if it would be better to eliminate the Monday morning picking and do a Monday evening picking instead. If the patch is thoroughly picked on Saturday and the weather is cool they often are almost not ripe enough to pick again Monday morning and would be much better with a few more hours to ripen. The Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning picking times will not change. Do any of you have a strong opinion about this one way or the other? Early crops such as scallions, beet greens, lettuce, spinach and salad mix are coming in strong now. The chard should be ready within a week. Snap peas and shell peas will be ready about the last week of June or first of July. Beans, new potatoes, broccoli, cabbage etc. come a week or two after that. Raspberries start just after strawberry season ends. I hope you all are excited to have many good suppers from the bounty that God puts in the fields and gardens of the north Country- I am. Daniel

Abundant asparagus

It is springtime on the farm. The asparagus is abundant with this lovely warm weather. We have lots of spinach for the moment. The strawberries are nearing full bloom. There was a bit of worry if the cold snap in late April hurt the buds that were already swelling from the warm March weather- I am happy to see lovely bright healthy looking flowers. I do not see any damage. Some of the apples had some damage and it will still be a few more days before we can see how good the apple fruit set will be. In general our days right now are full of lots of planting.
We are in a transition period for the farm. Matthew and Desiree Greenwood are in the process of buying this operation. You are likely to see them at the market. I am teaching them lots of what I know so they can carry on in the future. I (Daniel) along with my family are remaining as part of the team here for an indefinite time so you will also see us around. I will be filling in anywhere as needed, however I will be mostly focused of the gardens and production side of the business. You should see less of me in the back office. I enjoy being out weeding carrots, picking beans or putting seeds in the ground much more than paperwork. With more energy and new blood in the mix there’s so much potential. Martins Farmstand was being held back because we were tired. I am excited to see what the future holds.
Yes, we are planting various flowers and will be offering free u-cut flowers as they come into season just as we have been in the past. Daniel

Summer Hours Starting Thursday May 9th

It is time to for us to begin asparagus harvest. Summer hours here at Martins Farmstand will begin for 2024 on Thursday morning starting at 10 am. Summer hours are Tuesday- Saturday from 10 am till 6 pm. We are closed on Sunday and Monday. Summer hours begin in early May with the beginning of asparagus harvest and continue till early November when daylight savings time ends. Daniel

Sunshine and Planting

The farmstand will be open this afternoon from noon till 5 pm.
This is the last Saturday of winter hours for this season. The asparagus is coming up. I estimate that we will begin harvesting asparagus starting sometime during the middle/ late part of next week (Thursday or Friday???) depending on how warm the weather is and how much sun we have. Summer hours begin when we harvest the first asparagus. The plan for 2024 is to be open from 10 am till 6 pm Tuesday through Saturday. We will be closed Sunday and Monday.This is the same schedule as last year.
In the early spring the sunshine makes a big differance on soil temps as the cold underneath is pushing up and the warmth from the sun is pushing down. If it is cloudy the soil tends to be cold in the seed/ root zone. Of course cold rains bring the soil temps down quickly also. When you are planting things like sweet corn, beans, sqush etc and are using organic/ untreated seed it is important that they begin to sprout as soon as possible. During the first few days after you plant them if the do not sprout quickly they are likely to rot or just to disappear. Once they are sprouted even just a tiny bit they are somewhat secure. During this time of the year I prepare the soil for the heat loving seeds but do not plant right away. I let it rain and in general sit tight. I am watching the weather forcast for about 3 days of bright sun (ideally somewhat warm also). Then I plant. Seeds that sprout in the cool soil (lettuce, peas, beets, dill, cilantro, spinach etc) can be planted anytime you get to it. If the weather conditions are not ideal sometimes I also presprout seeds in the house till the sprout tip is just showing and then set them out by hand. Again once they are sprouted they are much less likely to disappear or rot.
For us, this week has been dominated by lots of planting. We set all the onions, parsley, leeks, early cabbage, lettuce etc out along with various seeds. We plant with hope. God, we pray that you send your rain and sunshine and give us our daily bread. Daniel

Abundant Spinach

The farm stand is open tomorrow (Saturday April 27,2024) from noon till 5 pm.
In August and early September I plant lots of spinach. I spread this out over about 4-5 plantings. We harvest spinach off of those plantings as needed throughout October and November. It is hard to get the timing on the late spinach just right because if it is a little warmer or cooler in the fall months it speeds up or slows down the growth. This is the same spinach that I attempt to overwinter. I am overwintering this spinach with no extra protection. Some years it works better than others however there are details that we can manage. The first one is site selection. It must be on a well drained site that is not prone to form sheet ice in the winter. Sheet ice is sure to winter kill it. An area that the snow drifts into is better than a windswept knoll. It needs to go into winter with enough root strength that it is strong but also just the right amount of youngness. If a planting is old enough to get a second cutting in the fall it almost always dies out. The only way I know to get this timing right is to do plantings about 7 days apart. One never knows if this one or that is the best. This year we hit it right. I have about 3,000 feet of row that is as pretty as can be. We have abundance of spinach to harvest in the next 4-5 weeks. The overwintered spinach bolts quickly when the weather gets hot so it usually only lasts till sometime in late May. The spring seeded spinach will not be ready till sometime in June so there is almost always a gap in availability after the over wintered spinach is gone by and before the spring seeded crop is ready. The last detail I wish to mention is that it tastes really mild and good right now. We have been testing it on our table. Delicious. Eat with the seasons. Eat lots of what is ready. The seasons rush on quickly and by the time one is tired of this it is time to eat the next new thing. Summer hours will start soon. The trigger for that is the beginning of asparagus harvest in early May. Daniel

Fresh Greens

The farmstand is open this afternoon from noon till 5 pm. We just harvested a tub each of fresh garlic scallions, turnip greens from the young turnips that over wintered, and wildcrafted dandelion greens. Garrison is bringing some micro greens that he grew. Also there is the normal selection of potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, etc. Before you laugh at someone selling dandelion greens remember that not everyone has a good spot to harvest them or maybe one is just not able or inclined to harvest there own. I personally eat quite a few dandelion greens in salads or sandwiches. It is a good spring tonic and I like them better than turnip greens. Lettuce is better but it is not ready for harvest yet. Daniel

Weblog Entry

The farm stand is open tommorow (Saturday April 6,2024) from noon till 5 pm. Even though it is winter outside the farmstand still has carrots, beets, onions, bulk foods, and much more. We still have about 1,500 lbs of potatoes (red, white, yellow) left in storage. There are spring dug parsnips available and a few apples. Storage cabbage is abundant and still nice. The garlic scallions (outdoors) are up and almost ready for harvest. I expect that depending on weather that we can start harvesting them for the stand in 2 weeks. We already had a few garlic scallions and wildcrafted dandelion greens in a salad a few days ago. Delicious!! The overwintered spinach came through nicely. I estimate the first spinach will be ready to harvest beginning in late April. After that asparagus!!!. Daniel

Farmstand open Friday this week, not Saturday

This week (Easter weekend)we will be open on Friday, March 29th from noon till 5 pm and closed on Saturday march 30th for Easter weekend. This change is only for this one week. During April we will be open on the normal Saturday schedule with summer hours resuming in early May whenever asparagus harvest starts.
I cut a few big butternut logs from my woodlot into live edge slabs that I just stacked in front of the farmstand. They are priced @ $25-$40 each depending on how wide and nice they are. Butternut is a beautiful wood. I also have a bunch of fairly wide (up to 12 inches) 1 inch thick butternut boards that are available. Daniel