John Krueger of Starbrite Farm (on vacation)

Photos from the June 7, 2008, Spring Farm Trip

All photos by Lenny Librizzi.

The farmhouse on rented land.

A view of one of the barns on the rented farmland.

John Krueger and members of New Jersey CSAs on the farm visit day.

We stopped to water the flats of seedlings that were parched on this 97 degree day.

John showing us one of his small tractors to which the tools are attached in front instead of in the rear.

Rows of multi-colored greens at Starbrite Farm.

White row covers, an organic technique to help keep weeds down and moisture in the soil.

Red row covers for tomato plants. The purple flowers in the foreground are vetch used as a cover crop.

Julian Librizzi at Starbrite farm on farm visit day.

Close-up of lettuces soon to be part of the CSA shares.

Julian Librizzi and Joseph Kent on antique farm equipment.

Farm Update, May 21, 2008

Hi Folks,

Well, I’m a week behind in writing this update, and probably almost 2 weeks behind with my planting schedule.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day this time of year to keep up with all of the seeds and plants that need to go in the ground at the same time! Throw in limited windows of opportunity in between rains, and equipment breakdowns and it’s easy to fall behind.

We have finished planting more than 60,000 onions and have planted about 1400 pounds of seed potatoes (only 900 pounds to go!). I hope to finish with the potatoes this coming week. This past week we transplanted the second round of lettuces and started the third succession in the greenhouse. We also transplanted out fennel and celery and a few tomatoes in the greenhouse. I expect to be transplanting eggplants and many more tomatoes this week.

As for direct seeded crops, I have planted carrots, beets, parsnips, swiss chard, and spinach. In the next few days I will be sowing radishes, turnips, dill, cilantro, arugula and other mustard greens.  There are cucumber and summer squash plants growing in the greenhouse which will be ready to transplant in a week or so. 

Many thanks to those who came out for the work party on 5/3 and helped to cut up seed potatoes and with covering the greenhouse. It was great to meet all of you and the help was greatly appreciated. I hope to meet many more of you at the second volunteer work day rescheduled for this Saturday 5/24 or at the farm visit on 6/7. 

--Farmer John

Farm Update, May 5, 2008

Hi Everyone,

It’s hard to believe 2 weeks has gone by since my last update; time flies when you have too much to do! It’s shaping up to be another dry spring similar to last year. Various predicted rains have failed to materialize or perhaps I should say, have vaporized. Drought is difficult in any season but it is worse in the spring because so many seeds are being planted that require consistent moisture to germinate well, and so many transplants are being set out that require adequate water to take root and begin growing.

Another complication is with field preparation, which involves plowing under cover crops or weeds (nature’s cover crops) and debris from last years crops to decompose. The microorganisms that perform this brilliant act of recycling require water for their activities and without moisture decomposition grinds to a halt. This has me particularly worried because I rented, and have just plowed, an additional 6 acres of field that has been in hay for many years. The thick sod gets flipped over by a mull board plow to lay face down and rot, which will take weeks or even months. The process can be accelerated by rototilling, but in dry conditions this is less effective and also creates clouds of dust and windborne soil loss.

But don’t worry too much (that’s my job!) there’s rain in the forecast and maybe the weatherman isn’t lying this time. In any event, the first planting of peas is up and growing, as are the fava beans, in spite of having there beds severely trampled by the neighbor’s escaped horses. We’ve planted thousands of brassicas (were you paying attention during that class?) and lettuces these past 2 weeks, watering them in with hoses and watering cans. We’ve also been planting tens of thousands of onions in the past weeks; these at least are a bit easier to irrigate since they are planted on black plastic mulch with drip lines. It’s only a matter of hooking up the lines and opening a valve, a task that needed to be done anyway.

A couple of good rain days will also allow us to catch up on greenhouse work, and begin cutting up seed potatoes. We have thousands of tomato, eggplant and pepper plants that need to be moved into larger soil cells and it’s time for another round of greenhouse seeding. Cutting up seed potatoes into small pieces for planting is a daunting task when you’re sowing over 2000 lbs. This will likely be one of the jobs that I will be requesting help with during the upcoming volunteer work days.

That’s all for now. Pray for some rain, but not too much!

--Farmer John

Update to the update: In between writing the update and sending it out we got about an inch and a half of rain, so I’m sorry I ever mentioned the D word. Now the forecast is for a rainy week ahead, and I’m hoping they’re wrong this time!

John Krueger's First Message

Happy Spring, everyone! According to the calendar we’re 3 weeks into the season, but it’s only been during the last few days that it has actually felt like spring. The forsythias are blooming and the garlic is up and growing. We’ve been busy in the greenhouse for the last 5 or 6 weeks planting lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and radicchio among other things. Many of these plants are ready to go outside to be “hardened off”, which means becoming accustomed to slightly colder nighttime temperatures and the drying effect of the wind. I hope to begin transplanting these by the end of the week.

Actually the planting season began in early February with onions and leeks that I started in a vacant room in my house under fluorescent lights. These crops are slow germinators and slow growers and should be transplanted out into the field as early in April as possible. Since it’s too cold and would be too expensive to heat the greenhouse to grow these plants in February, I choose to let my neighbors wonder: “what’s he growing in there?”

We began transplanting the onions into the field this past week, and will be continuing to plant them out over the next couple of weeks. Also planted this past week were about 2200 row feet of Fava beans, and nearly 6000 r.f. of peas.

In the next 2 weeks, I will be spending a lot of time on the big tractor plowing and preparing ground for the many crops that it will soon be time to seed, and the plants which will soon be ready for transplanting. I expect to begin planting potatoes in the next few days, a process that will continue for several weeks. Spring has sprung and the hard work has begun! I look forward to a great season.

--Farmer John

Note: We have scheduled 2 volunteer work days to help cover greenhouses. They are May 3 at Good Hand Farm (rented field) and May 17 at Starbrite Farm. Both will start at 11AM, I have attached directions. Also the tentative date for the farm visit is June 7. Take care, John

Directions to Starbrite Farm: Take I-80 West to exit 12, Blairstown/ Hope. Turn right onto Rt. 521 North. Follow approximately 5 miles to Rt. 94. Turn left on 94 and go to first traffic light and turn right and an immediate right again. This is still Rt. 521N. Follow about 3.5 miles and make the first right after White Lake onto Old Orchard Rd. Starbrite Farm is #4, the 2nd driveway on the right. Follow the long driveway along the wooded ridge until you see the greenhouse.4 Old Orchard Rd. Hardwick NJ07825(Blairstown zipcode)

Directions to Good Hand Farm: Take I-80 West to Rt. 206 North. Follow 206 for about 9 miles. Just north( 2mi.) of the town of Andover turn left onto Brighton Rd. (there is a Brighton Rd. in the Borough of Andover as well, don’t turn there, watch for Simon Peters Sport Shop on the corner). The farm is about 2 miles down on the right, after the road straightens out. There is a long gray barn and a sign out front. 110 Brighton Rd. Andover, NJ 07821.

Introduction

My name is John Krueger and I am the owner and operator of Starbrite Farm. I have been interested in organic gardening for over 25 years, as an avid gardener and as co-founder and an officer of the Cook Organic Gardening Club.  

I earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Cook College, Rutgers University in 1989. In 1996 I was hired as Farm Manager of Heirloom Harvest Farm in Blairstown NJ.  During my six years at Heirloom Harvest I was able to draw on my experience as an organic gardener and to gain experience in the techniques and equipment for larger scale vegetable production. I was given the opportunity to attend numerous conferences and workshops related to organic farming.

In 2002, the owner of the farm decided to discontinue operations in NJ.  I was determined to continue my involvement with organic farming and that year I began working with Richard Moran at Starbrite Farm in Hardwick Township. NJ.  Dick had been farming organically on his property for 10 years since retiring. 

In 2003, Dick allowed me to take over operation of the farm and I began working with the Bloomfield-Montclair CSA and selling at the Montclair and Morristown farmers markets. In 2005, I added a second CSA group at the Jewish Community Center in West Orange. For the 2006 season, I was chosen to be the farmer for the Downtown Harvest CSA in Jersey City. During the 2007 season, a new CSA group in Westfield was added and Starbrite Farm supplied produce for 200 members among the four groups. 

Over these years I have acquired additional leased fields in the vicinity of Starbrite Farm in order to expand my planting.  In 2007, I began leasing an additional 7 acres from Good Hand Farm in Andover Twp.  For the 2008 season, I will be leasing an additional 6 acres in Andover as well as additional greenhouse and barn space. I anticipate serving approximately 300 members in 2008.

I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible through the course of the season, at pickups, at the Farm visit, or at other social events.

For more on organic farming, see:

Organic.org: http://www.organic.org/

Organic Consumers Association: http://www.organicconsumers.org/

The National Organic Program: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexNet.htm

Note: Click here for photos and information about Cranberry Hall Farm.