plotsField notes
Notes from the field, the greenhouse, and the back office.
Open the Gate: Why U-Pick Is Working Again for Small Farms
A family will spend three hours in a strawberry patch and leave having paid, thanked you on the way out, and picked more cleanly than a rushed crew, because it is their afternoon and their berries
By the PlotsFarm team
pollination · 6 min
Your Squash Isn't Failing. It's Not Getting Enough Bees.
Pollination is an input. Same as water. Same as nitrogen. We just don't think of it that way because we're not the ones doing the work, it's easy to treat bees as background scenery.
weeds management · 6 min
Cover the Ground: Fabric, Tunnels, and Tarps for Weed Control
Almost every weed problem comes down to one thing: those seeds got light. Take the light away and most of the fight is already over
weeds management · 6 min
Weed the Day After the Rain
When soil is dry and hard, a weed's roots are locked in place. Pull, the top snaps off at the crown while the taproot stays, ready for new growth. You have not removed the weed; you have pruned it.
pest control · 6 min
Catch the Japanese Beetle Early: Snap, Identify, Act
Plots.Farm's in-app insect identification lets you photograph the beetle and get the likely candidates back, so you can confirm it really is a Japanese beetle, and returns the suggested resolutions.
market gardening · 5 min
Same Bug, Two Crops: Why the Beetles Stripped the Eggplant and Skipped the Peppers
Flea and Colorado beetles both feed on eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes. Eggplant gets hit first and hardest. The reason is the leaf: eggplant foliage is tender, thin, and low in deterrent.
soil health · 6 min
Rabbit Tea: The Free Fertilizer Under the Hutch
Rabbit manure generally runs higher in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium than cow or horse manure. For a grower running intensive beds where every square foot is working, that density matters.
market gardening · 3 min
Same bed, same lettuce, 75% more heads
Every grower has read the back of a seed packet. Lettuce, 8″ apart in the row, 12″ between rows. Most market gardeners quietly ignore it and plant tighter, and they are right to.
market gardening · 6 min
Vegetables for Asian Stores: Finding the Niche the Market Hasn't Filled
That is the whole pitch for asian greens: real demand, thin local supply, and a product so perishable that being close is a genuine advantage
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