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PHONE: 619.662.1780
CSA Inquiries, please email rodrigo@suziesfarm.com
Local Chefs, please email robin@suziesfarm.com
For Farmer's Market Info, please email britta@suziesfarm.com
ADDRESS & DIRECTIONS:
For scheduled farm tours, our Kiki Town address is:
1856 Saturn Boulevard, San Diego CA 92154
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Did you know Suzie’s Farm delivers in San Diego five days a week? Not only that, several acres of our farm in San Diego’s Border State Park is dedicated to custom growing for the specific needs (and imagination) of our local chefs. Can you say boutique and convenience all in one breath? You don’t have to. Just say Suzie’s Farm. Visit our Chef's Page to view our delivery schedule and learn more about our partnership with restaurants.
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Last year we created what Robin called Permabeds. A lot of people didn’t know what we were talking about. Even we weren’t sure what we were creating. We were studying a lot about permaculture - which is essentially “permanently” leaving your “agriculture” in the ground. This isn’t normally the way most people farm - even us. It’s something we would like to do, but at this time we depend on more conventional farming practices. Meaning that we use a tractor to make rows, we cover the rows in black plastic to retain moisture, speed seed germination and suppress weeds, we lay drip lines to irrigate and then we harvest.
We were excited about experimenting with the permabeds. The permabeds were basically long raised mounds of farm waste, covered with cardboard (to control the weeds) and then topped with 6 inches of mulch to retain moisture. Last year we made seven beds and filled three with tomatoes, two with peppers and two with tomatillos.
You may remember that the tomatoes grew to Godzilla-like proportions. We watched those puppies reach and stretch toward the heavens. Each plant put out flowers equal to the population of Mumbai. We shook in terror and anticipation. Surely plants that big would put out gigantic lusicous tomatoes the size of basketballs. Right?
And then we waited. And waited. And WAITED.
Where were the freaking tomatoes, man?!
Well tomato plants grow like crazy in a nitrogen heavy medium. Tomato fruit, on the other hand, does not. The permabeds with all of their rich, organic farm waste are essentially long compost piles - heavy on the nitrogen.
So we got wise, see? The tomatoes will not be residing in the permabeds this year.
Part Two of the story is that we planted potatoes last year.
You may be wondering to yourself, “Did I miss the potatoes? I visit Suzie’s Farm at the Farmers Markets. I get a CSA box. Where were the freaking potatoes, man?!”
You did not miss the potatoes. We planted them traditionally, in rows under black plastic and hoped for the best. Well, potatoes need to be hilled.
Traditionally farmers hill potatoes (hoe the soil up around their stems) when the leaves are 6-12 inches tall. The tubers grow on the stem that is extending toward the sun, in spite of you covering it up with soil You continue to hill this you harvest the potatoes, which have been vining up the plant toward the sunWe knew this of course, but they were more of an afterthought. We felt overwhelmed at having just acquired Kiki Town and 40 acres. The reality of all that empty space was freaking us out, so we just planted those puppies and hoped for the best.
Which brings us back to Do-Do-Do-Do.
We’ve got permabeds. We’ve got potatoes.
We didn’t re-mulch the permabeds this winter. The soil there is rich and crumbly. We think we hit the nail on the head.
Two weeks ago we cut the potatoes into 3 eye segments. We let the scar heal. Then we planted those puppies. Today we are re-laying the drip lines. They were blown away by the strong winds from the storm last week. We’ll be going back to check on them once a week, to make sure they are growing and to make sure we hill them. We’ve got 8 different varieties of potatoes going. Fingerlings, Reds, Purples, Golds. All of them yum and all of them coming.