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Specialty growers busy with planting season

It’s been a busy spring for specialty growers in Illinois.

Tony Pferschy, of Garlic Breath Farms in northern Illinois, says spring preparations are well under way.

“Yeah, we do 70,000 bulbs of garlic.”  He says, “Also, we are currently surrounded in our house by probably 5 to 10,000 plants. That’s a wide range. But yeah, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, everything else.”

Austin Flamm, at Flamm Orchards in southern Illinois, tells Brownfield they’ll be planting for weeks.

“As soon as we’re able to, we try to get in the field, get something in the ground, and then every few weeks from that point forward, we’ll continue to plant more as long as the weather permits it.”  He says, “Just to maintain that same level of production throughout the whole growing season.”

He says utilization of high tunnels helps them get a jump on the season.

“We did start a few of our yellow squash and zucchini plants in a high tunnel this year.”  He says, “It’s not something we necessarily do every year.  We find that direct seeding works really well for us, especially on the scale that we’re doing it. But we do a lot of transplanting as well.”

Both producers say the mild late winter, and early spring rains have been beneficial for early season crops. 

AUDIO: Tony & Sharon Pferschy – Garlic Breath Farms in Elburn, IL

Photo: Tony & Sharon Pferschy