Conversations with Yoders' Farm

Lowell and Eldon talk about what has happened since the last episode (at the beginning of July). Besides wrapping up sweet corn & greenhouse tomato season, we've been working on soil prep for making strawberry beds, and we're always getting ready for the coming season.

The Strawberry season is behind us. We're working on preparations for the fall corn maze & pumpkin patch season as well as the prep work that has to happen before we can plant strawberries this fall... seems like there is never a dull moment here on the farm. :)

In this episode, Lowell & Eldon talk about a few things that were big question marks heading into the 2020 PYO season and a number of other farm-related topics.

Eldon & Lowell discuss what all has been going on at Yoders' Farm over the past couple of weeks. There was almost a complete week of rain. Strawberry issues to work through. Soybeans to plant and a number of other things that had to happen.

We are currently two weeks into our 2020 Strawberry Season. To say that it has been a bit busy feels like an understatement. We've had lots of demand for strawberries, a frost/freeze event on Mothers Day weekend and now the coming week looks quite rainy...

A quick chat about recent frost events and how a pretty chilly April after a fairly warm winter has affected the pick your own strawberry season here at Yoders' Farm.

In this episode we talk about some things we are considering doing different this year due to the coronavirus. This will likely be a pretty different Pick Your Own strawberry season from what we've been used to in the past, but if you can work with us we'll try to do everything we can to be safe and follow all the proper guidelines.

Lowell and Eldon talk about springs continual arrival, the continued "early" timeline for the pick your own strawberry patch, and several other updates from around the farm. There is also some discussion about how Covid-19 may affect our PYO strawberry season.

In this episode Lowell and I talk a bit about what we've been up to here on the farm the last few weeks and then towards the end of the episode Lowell rants for a bit about some comments from a presidential candidate that recently came to light.

In this episode Lowell and I talk briefly about the past number of weeks and what we've been up to on the farm. We also talk a bit more about the advanced place having such a mild winter can put us in... and the concerns we have for the strawberries when the weather is this mild throughout the winter.

The Snack Shack sometimes feels like its just a "tag on" to everything we do here at the farm, but it take quite a bit of work and we are quite happy with what we are able to offer through its windows! This episode covers a bit of the history as well as what we currently offer.

As soon as we pass the winter equinox it starts to feel like we're ticking right away towards strawberry season. Add a milder winter (so far) to the mix and it feels like we're moving even faster!

Lowell & Delvin dive deeper into the topic of what it takes to produce a high quality green house (hydroponic) tomato.

Lowell & Delvin talk about some of the challenges of growing tomatoes through the winter in a greenhouse. One of the biggest issues is keeping the tomato plants warm enough to grow and bloom.

Lowell & Eldon talk about whats been going on since we wrapped up the fall season here at the farm. The weather has changed, and we are definitely heading into the winter season. That of course means tomatoes in the greenhouse as well as field work and thinking about things we need to work on for spring.

Lowell and Eldon are joined by Delvin for a chat about agritourism at Yoders' Farm as well as a quick look at what is coming up next here at the farm!

Lowell and I talk through the first couple of weeks of the fall season, the pumpkins, the corn maze, how the strawberry plants are doing, the state of the greenhouses, etc.

This is mostly a quick overview of what we've been up to the last few weeks. Planting strawberries. Preparing for the fall season. Pumpkin stuff. Corn Maze stuff. We even managed to talk just a little bit about the Snack Shack.

Lowell and I talk very briefly about what we've been up to the last couple of weeks and then we jump into a brief overview of a new venture that Lowell has been involved with recently, raising honey bees!

In this episode Lowell and I talk about what we've been up to the last couple of weeks here at the Farm. Making beds for strawberries. Planting strawberry tips. Growing pumpkins. Cutting the Corn Maze. This Saturday is our last day being open till we open for the Fall Corn Maze & Pumpkin season in September!

In this episode Lowell and I give a brief overview of the Virginia Strawberry Association preplant meeting we were just at. Then we dive into the topic of strawberry plant propagation, where we get our strawberry tips and plugs and a few more details around that.

In this episode Lowell and I talk about weather, in particular rain, and how it affects us here on the farm. We also talk a bit about what we do to help when it gets too dry, and how "controlling" the elements is part of the reason that we raise tomatoes in a greenhouse.

We've been thinking a lot about fall these days, mostly because we've recently planted the Corn Maze and are working to decide what our design will be this year. Beyond that we're also planting pumpkins and working to prepare the area where we'll be planting strawberries in September. There's always plenty to do around the farm!

This is a quick episode that puts the 2019 strawberry season to bed. After that we discuss sweet corn just a little bit before talking about a few possible future episodes.

In this episode Lowell and I give a quick run down of a bunch of little things that are common misconceptions about strawberry farming, strawberry raising and farming in general. Things like "are all strawberry farmers grumpy" or "rain is great for strawberries" and a number of others.