Time Lapse at the Farm

Sometimes I wish we had a time lapse camera recording at the farm. 

I am amazed at the changes I find from day to day, and especially week to week. 

While some of this can predict, of course, so much depends 

on the weather and just how the plants "take," 

that often we are surprised at what we find at the farm.

that's purslane growing in the radish bed
although we didn't plant it, we certainly like to use it!

We planted our potatoes at the farm at the end of February 

and soon we will be harvesting them.

The amount of time it takes for potatoes to grow depends on the variety 

(as well as the conditions), but generally fingerlings 

are ready about 100 days from planting.

potato beds late February ready for planting

potatoes getting going

potato beds last week!

We are especially excited about our Russian Banana Fingerling potatoes.  

This variety makes our farm staff and chefs happy:  

Considered the easiest fingerling to grow, these were developed

 in the Baltic Region of Europe/Asia and are
"heralded as excellent for salads (note to chefs!),

 and are a favorite of among chefs and gourmet markets." (note to diners!). 

Here are some great tips on planting and using Russian Banana potatoes.

notice that the Russian Banana potato flower is purple
while the Yukon golds have white flowers

these blossoms are our indicator
that the potatoes are pretty well set

we will likely pick the potatoes
about two weeks after the plants have lost their blossoms 

While the chefs will be inspired to create with the Russian Bananas, 

we find the Yukon Golds are best for this party nibble:

Photo of Salt Cod & Potato croquettes by Steven Krause
for Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country

For fun, here's a time lapse video of a tomato plant growing over 42 days. 

We are counting the days (maybe minutes?) for ours to mature 

and each visit to the farm chronicles how much they are growing. 

last week found our first tomato flower!

As we are keeping track, we are on our second planting of radishes already, 

having harvested the ones we planted late winter into early spring. 

For our menu at the girl & the fig, we know we always need 

to have radishes going at the farm.

Just picked radishes in April 

one of our most popular starters:
mixed seasonal radishes from our garden, anchovy butter & grey sea salt

Any guess how long it will take for these to get from our farm to your table? 

Follow the blog and you can follow the progress of these radishes!

What are you following in your garden? 

Any tips to share while you wait?