28
May
2010
Ah the humble cobbler. Raiser of those impoverished masses, pride of the Inca, and Idaho’s claim to fame. The potato is a nutritional power house, stores well, and complements any dish.
Yesterday I took the time to cut up this years seed potato. Carefully I selected just the right amount of eyes for each seed piece, set them in cardboard trays with a fan running in the background to help dry out the newly exposed flesh. The cutting of a potato into many pieces in order to reproduce the plant is an old practice going back to American prehistory. Interestingly some sects of Hindu’s won’t eat potatoes out of respect for the roots ability to continue creating life in seeming perpetuity.
Now, as the new seed potatoes dry preparing themselves for the planting ahead, I cannot help but be pleased with the varieties. Outside of newly exposed flesh these potatoes hold little in common with one another. These little tubers range in color, size, and harvest time in order to get the variety we will all appreciate come fall, winter, and hopefully spring.
Here is a quick list of potato varities we are planting:
All these varieties are from http://ronnigers.com/ which is a respected organic/natural potato producer which produces in the rocky mountain region. Click on the names of the potatoes to see more about what will appear in our CSA baskets later this year.
Here’s to another productive weekend, one of potato planting, seedling transplanting, fence building, and preparing new garden beds. Sunday is suppose to be beautiful folks, for those of you who have some free time and want to spend it productively outdoors your helping hands will certainly be welcome out at EIO farm.
Dewayne
Dewayne Arave 
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24
May
2010
I was reminded how overdue this post was this year. Better late then never though right?
So, for all of you who are waking up to spring in Idaho Falls and looking at those bare spots around the yard with a planning eye I would like to remind you that East Idaho Organic has bedding plants for sale. We have perennials, annuals, flowers and vegetation available to fill up those beds and make your yard look just how you want it this year. This year we have a great variety of Geraniums both regal and zonal in with colored foliage and beautiful intense blooms, we have petunias, pansies, lobielia, plectranthus, calibrachoa, bacopa, sea pinks, dianthus, sedums, dhalias, and more. We also have 10-20 inch hanging baskets available and some 12 pack plants available for you to make your own baskets if your looking to save some money.
As always you can see us at the Saturday farmers market or if you want to come visit the house during the week and checkout what we have growing on just give us a call at 522-4905 or send me an email and we can work something out. As a reminder to our CSA members you will get an additional 25% off our normal prices.
Dewayne Arave Uncategorized No Comments »
20
May
2010
Just a quick update. The workparty out at the farm went great! Peas, onions, corn, broccoli, and leeks were all planted. Several rows in the old beds were also weeded and readied for planting. By the end of the day the ditch was even filled with water so we couldn’t have planned the timing better. Thank you to everyone who participated and we look forward a bountiful harvest which will at least partially be attributable to the efforts of our volunteers, friends, and CSA labor share members.
On another note to our CSA members. I just ordered 55 lbs of seed potatoes, apx 250-400 shallot sets,and 5 lbs of jerusalem artichokes. Also I just put in an order with Johnny’s select for just under $200 of veggie seeds. The new seeds from Johnny’s include: peas, arugula, lettuce, collars, kale, melons, gords, red veined spinach, radish, and swiss chard.
This weekends activities should include planting seeds for everything from mizuna, arugula, spinach and lettuce to planting strawberry crowns, hoeing weeds, shoveling out the ditch, and working on the new chicken coops. Should be a busy and hopefully productive weekend.
Dewayne Arave Uncategorized No Comments »
13
May
2010
HI everyone. This sunday we are going to have a workparty and all CSA members are invited (begged 
) to attend. We hope to arrive at the farm at around 10am and work as long as we can manage. Kev and I plan on bringing some foodstuffs and everyone who attends is welcome to take home some spinach, lettuce, and mizuna.
We have 2-3 freshly tilled acres which need some attention. We plan on digging out some pathways to carve out raised beds. Each bed will be roughly 6 foot by 60 foot and we will be digging a rougly 2 foot path between them to a depth of just under a foot. Raised beds are significantly more productive and help with weed control. We will have the seeder out and be seeding peas, spinach, arugula, spinach, and maybe some carrots as well. With all the new beds and planting will come mulching. We have plenty of semi composted leaves to use for mulch. Also, one of the greenhouses is overdue to be planted with hot weather plants such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
With as many people planning on attending as we currently have it will be more effective to split into groups. We will have a group digging and preparing raised beds, another will plant seeds and transplants and mulch, still another will work in the greenhouses to plant hot weather varieties.
Here is looking forward to a productive sunday folks, hope to see you all there!
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4
March
2010
For all you early birds we have an opportunity arising for early tomatoes.
An Organic produce from Wyoming has offered us some early tomato plants in 2 and 1/2 inch coco coir pots. These plants are from a popular Blitz variety that performs well in Wyoming’s light conditions so should be a good producer in Idaho Falls. We here at East Idaho Organic will be planting these as soon as we get them by next Friday the 12th of March. They will be planted into either 1 gallon pots or directly into the ground for early season tomatoes. If you would like a gallon tomato plant let us know. At a foot tall already these should be producing maters in no time at all.
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