Springtime at Schneider Farms

Hello Everyone! Farmer Ed Schneider has sent us some updates and a new video from his farm in Pasco, Washington. We love hearing about what is happening on the farms, and hope you enjoy this little update, too!

From Ed:

We have finished the bulk of the [potato] seed cutting and planting. All we have left is 160 acres of babies [potatoes] to cut and plant at the end of May.

It has been a little wild on the weather this spring. We started off warm and then we had a couple weeks of frost that did do some damage on the early planted potatoes, but they are up and going again. All of the french fry potatoes are leafed out, and about half of the babies.

As always, we are fortunate in the Columbia Basin, where are no water worries. The ]potato] market for 2013 seems to be getting a little better. A few weeks ago, there was no interest in open [no contract] potatoes, but now there have been a couple of sales in the last week or so. Maybe the market is not oversupplied as much as everyone thought. The fast food restaurants are still struggling, but I think the processors have adjusted their needs to meet the demand.

The video is of the same field where I took the video of planting, only now the plants are up and growing. I will take another one later in the season when the plants are bigger.


They're dammer diking. What is dammer diking? Want to see how a potato grows? Watch to find out! It's really cool!




Please let us know in the comments section if you have any questions for Ed! He will be glad to answer your questions about farming!

Snapshots from Sweet Hills Farm

     In the past few weeks, spring has SPRUNG around here!  The wheat is growing, tractors are all over the place, farmers are working hard, there's water in the canals, and hired hands are out irrigating.

     With this said, our region had a dangerously light precipitation winter, and everyone is concerned.  Our farmer, Russ, said that he believes he will have about 33% of the water he needs to grow a profitable crop this season.  Wow!  Pray for rain!

     See the photos that I've taken this week.

Brodi & Pinto walking along the big canal that had concrete work done to it
this past winter.  This canal delivers water to our part of the valley

The spillway in our big canal

Done seeding.  Look at those tractors!

Snazzy hand-made implement for bedding up the seedbeds for sugarbeets

Our wheat out front has really jumped up.  

Our driveway - the locusts aren't leafed out yet,
but the flowers are so cheerful

Merrygold, lookin' pretty after being groomed :)
She still has her winter coat