Spring Update – Part III – A message from the President

As our season continues on the farm, we are so lucky to have such great crops growing. We’re off to a very dry start. In Florida, we’re experiencing the driest winter in 80 years and it looks to continue into the spring. I won’t complain too much, however, because I think we can do a better job getting the water to the crops rather than getting the water off the crops in a timely fashion when we get too much. That happened a few weeks back when we got 5 inches in a couple of days.

Also, dry seasons usually mean better yields, providing it is not so dry that the seeds wouldn’t get germinated properly. A nice half-inch soaking of rain once a week would be perfect for the crops and cut our electric bill by a bunch! But as farmers we have learned to accept what we get in the way of weather and deal with it the best we can. As the saying goes, “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” That really is the mind-set one has to have in agriculture. Unlike many other businesses, you have so many variables (weather in particular) that you can’t control, and months of hard work and investment can be wiped out in a matter of a few minutes.

As a result, what we farmers concentrate on doing is controlling the variables that we can and do the absolute best we can to be at the top of our game. Then we hope that the rest falls into place! That probably goes against all the business-success models that you have ever learned, but that is farming. To be a farmer you must be the eternal optimist, always positive, tirelessly persistent and have unyielding faith. Not unlike other businesses, you have to surround yourself with great people who share a similar passion.

If you‘re reading this and think I have it all figured out, you would be mistaken. I would love to hear any input you might have, because everyday on the farm is a learning experience and I love out-of-the-box thinking.

Thanks for all your support of our efforts and please come and visit our retail store, Scott’s Country Market, beginning April 29th.

Hank Scott
President
Hank@LongandScottFarms.com

Soil Around the Farm

There is much that goes into ensuring the proper, safe and healthy growth of our plants. At Long & Scott Farms for instance, we farm on sand and we have to constantly monitor growing conditions.

Routine soil samples are taken in each field before each crop. Samples are also taken if we have any problems with plants that are not growing properly. This is done so we have healthy soil and we can make fertilizer adjustments as needed. However, fertilizer is just a quick fix as it does not build the soil like organic matter does. We also check for soil ph. The ph of the soil can be adjusted with lime and sulfur . If certain nutrients like calcium are out of whack this can cause other nutrients to be bound and not available to the plant. A soil report will also tell us the Cation Exchange Capacity, which is the ability of the soil to hold nutrients. Most all nutrients that are found in the soil are also found in the human body. This is why fruits and vegetables are very nutritious .Nutrients are transferred from the soil to the plant and the fruit through photosynthesis (sunlight). Different types of soil and weather conditions can effect the taste of vegetables.

Come on over to Scott’s Country Market and try some of our sand-farm produce! In the meantime, if you have any questions, please let us hear from you.

Cade Easley
Integrated pest manager
Cade@longandscottfarms.com

Food safety

You may have noticed some news lately about produce being recalled or warnings issued about a food health issue in relation to certain products. It wasn’t that long ago that these warnings prompted massive fears over public health and could often result in serious illness, or worse yet, death. The produce industry has not only been swift, but extremely competent, in self-regulation. The result is that now, most growers, shippers and packers have implemented programs that ensure the public safety through the use of water, soil and product testing. In addition, packing houses like the one at Long & Scott, have inventory software systems in place that can trace a carton of produce not just back to the field, but to every wholesale customer who has received it. These tests and traceability initiatives have resulted in a reporting system that is not simply reactive, but proactive in nature and scope. Nowadays, when you see a recall, most product can not only be traced to its source, but identified by lot number and field. When you consider the volume of fresh produce that moves across this country, this is not only an amazing accomplishment, but a giant leap in helping to guarantee that the food supply you receive from America’s farms is protected and safe.

Do you have food safety questions? We are happy to answer them for you, so please let us hear from you.

Anna Sciarrino
Director, Sales & Marketing
sales@longandscottfarms.com

The Bees are Here!!

Our bumble bees arrived last week and they are welcome guests on the farm! The bees will be calling Long and Scott Farms their home for the next nine weeks and they are a very important part of growing pickles.

Without proper pollination, pickles can become crooked and deformed, and this results in low yields on the crop. The bees are placed around our fields and we give them some shade and let them go to work. We also use honey bees on the farm and we have to be careful not to put the bumble bees too close to them because they will invade each others hives.

Pickles are a flowering vine plant and a bee has to visit a flower eight times or more to achieve proper pollination. Each acre has over forty thousand plants and each plant can have as many as fifteen flowers. The bees have a lot of work to do! Many insecticides are toxic to bees , so we must maintain a safe and healthy environment for them.

Corn, on the other hand, is a self-pollinating plant. The pollination occurs when the wind blows the tassel, which is on top of the stalk, and the pollen drops to the silk. As you can see, at Long and Scott Farms, our produce is a true work of nature!

Do you have any questions about how plants grow? Please let us hear from you.


Cade Easley
Integrated pest manager
cade@longandcottfarms.com

Spring Harvest On The Farm Update

As we are getting on with our spring pickle crop, it is amazing to see the yields and quality of pickles that are being harvested. The early pickle vines were in rough shape due the high winds and rains a couple of weeks ago and it was an anxious time. I must give credit to - and brag about - our farm team for the care and attention that they gave to our crops to get the water off as fast as possible and nurse them back to health.

Also amazing is the fact that the sweet corn really came out of the wind and rain nicely. After seeing it blown over and water-logged, we were happy to see it standing straight and tall once again.

So far this season our pest pressures have been very light so we have done very little spraying and only used bio-friendly chemicals for the most part.

It looks like the corn is going to be early by a week or so and until the Market opens on the 29th, we will have corn for sale on east side of highway 441 across from Orlando North Airport ( just south of Zellwood), as soon as it is ready.

All is well down here on the farm so far this spring season, but please don’t hesitate to send us your concerns or questions. In the meantime, we’ll look forward to seeing you for the opening of Scott’s Country Market on April 29th!

Hank Scott
President
Hank@longandscottfarms.com

It’s All About the Weather

It seems that the transitions of seasons is no longer a fact of nature. We’ve seen now, for several seasons, that winter-to-spring does not take what was in the past a 30-day period. At the farm, we’ve gone from wet and cold to 90 degree days in a matter of days and it has made the transition much more difficult to deal with in terms of the crops. Hopefully, this is a short-term reality and the good old days of the past will return.

What are you thoughts on these weather fluctuations?

Ted Geltz
Farm Manager
geltzs@aol.com

A Bountiful Harvest

As we await our corn crop later this month, we've begun the pickle harvest on the farm and are winding up with cabbage. A bountiful harvest is a reminder to us that we are so fortunate to be able to grow produce which feeds so many people.

Each season, as we reach the end of a crop, we invite the area food banks onto the farm to glean the fields or somehow provide them with a portion of our harvest. Please remember them also with your donations. Statistics show that one in six Americans is fighting hunger and even the smallest contributions, including your time, go a long way to helping those in need.

Wishing you all a happy spring from everyone at Long & Scott Farms!

Anna Sciarrino
Director, Sales & Marketing
anna@longandscottfarms.com

Note from our Maze Manager

It’s spring - not fall - and the corn maze is months away. But the planning is going on NOW!

Our theme for the 2011 fall season is “RENEWABLE ENERGY” and we are working on finalizing the design and putting together the theme. We are even planning on an early opening date of September the 17th , as well as a later closing date of December the 11th! That means an additional 4 weekends for the General Public and 20 extra days for group events. As you know we add something new every year. Stay tuned for what’s going to be new this year!

Rebecca Scott Ryan
Maze Manager
Rebecca@longandscottfarms.com

Spring Update From the President

Well it is spring time down on the farm and it is, without a doubt, the most beautiful time of the year. Everything is growing well and very green. Although the heavy rains and high winds did a small amount of damage, we are thankful that it wasn’t any worse.

We are still planting pickles and corn, winding up the winter cabbage harvest and getting ready for the spring pickle and corn harvest. We are on schedule - and probably a little ahead of schedule - for pickles on April the 10th, and corn for Scott’s Country Market’s April 29th opening. Our team has really been working hard and putting in some long hours with the priority of getting everything ready all at once. Along with making sure the planting is being done on schedule, there is harvest equipment and grading equipment to get ready, administrative efforts to handle shipping, food safety and trace-back systems and of course, setting up Scott’s Country Market which has a new addition this year of a café .

The farm is positioned to have an outstanding spring season and to serve all our customers with the freshest, best-quality produce available in Central Florida. I am very proud of what we have done this season as it has been an uphill battle at times with the weather, but we have adjusted when needed and gotten the job done. The reward is always the beauty of the spring growing season and harvest.

Keep an eye on our website at www.longandscottfarms.com and Facebook pages for the pictures of the farm. Or better yet, take a drive down Jones Avenue to see the beautiful green color of crops growing in the fields. We look forward to your comments and questions, so please let us know your thoughts.

Happy Spring!

Hank Scott
President
hank@longandscottfarms.com

Pickles

Pickles

In about a week or so, depending on the weather, we’ll be ready to start harvesting pickling cucumbers. Our largest crop, pickles (this season) represent about 600 acres of our total acreage. Our crop reaches the market in two ways – through a processor, or directly to the fresh market. The sizes in the picture below represent 5 of the 6 sizes we sell and as we grade through the crop, we must sometimes be within a ¼ “ to have a saleable product. Like most produce, pickles are graded on quality and Long & Scott Farms is fortunate to enjoy an excellent reputation in the industry. Believe it or not, by this time next week, the pickles in this photo will be double or triple in size!

Do you have a favorite pickle recipe? Please send it along and we’ll share it on our social media pages.

Anna Sciarrino
Director, Sales & Marketing
anna@longandscottfarms.com