January 16, 2025
As we usher in a new year, we’ve begun laying plans for the months and seasons ahead of us. These plans began last fall as puzzle pieces scattered about a tabletop, but now is the time to start figuring out how they join together and make one big picture for the 2025 growing season.
These pieces are things like:
- What crops do we want to grow?
- How much of each crop and what varieties?
- What should the planting schedule be?
- What fields will the crops be grown on?
- What will it take to harvest and sell what we produce?
And just when you think you have the puzzle almost figured out, there’s a piece that isn’t fitting correctly, so we must go back and adjust. These are the things that take up much of our time from November through February, as we prepare for another growing season.
Longing for the Greenhouses
While our flower production doesn’t kick off until mid-February, that doesn’t mean Paul isn’t dialed into flower orders to make sure we are ready to go for the upcoming season.
Orders were placed months ago, but when you’re working with live plants, there are many challenges that come along with that. There isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t receive notices about orders that are delayed or canceled due to crop failures, weather conditions that caused plants to die upon shipment, or other unforeseen reasons.
While not anything new when it comes to flower production, it’s a challenge that causes some puzzle pieces to slip out of place every once in a while. It will be nice to get back into the greenhouses in a month and feel the humidity and smell the soil in the air. With the recent below zero temps and a few more on the horizon, we begin to long for warmer weather and glimpses of spring and summer.
Longing for the Tomatoes
Not only are we longing for some of those warmer temperatures right about now, but how about some of those homegrown tomatoes? Store bought tomatoes just don’t offer that same juicy flavor at this time of year, but they must suffice.
What we can tell you though is our first tomato seeds will be seeded next week! Yes, it may seem early, but don’t worry, these plants won’t make it into the ground in our high tunnels until early April, weather dependent of course.
In mid to late February, the tiny tomato seedlings will go through the grafting process. "Grafting" means taking the root stock of one variety and connecting it to the scion, or the top, of the plant of a different variety that yields the fruit.
We choose to have the majority of our tomato plants grafted due to the benefits that are provided throughout the growing season.
Rootstocks of grafted tomato plants are typically chosen for their resistance to soil-borne diseases. If we were to eat their fruits, however, we would be very disappointed with their flavor. So, we choose an extremely flavorful scion, and pair it with the rigorous rootstock and come up with Untiedt’s great tomatoes that you know and love.
But Making the Most of Winter
The cold and snow can make these January days feel long, but we know there is so much to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. Enjoy what winter brings. Unlike last winter, there’s ice on the lakes and albeit not a lot of snow, there is enough to enjoy some outdoor activities.
We’ll keep arranging the puzzle pieces and soon enough, the 2025 picture will begin to reveal itself. We can’t wait to share it with you all!
