The 40hr Farmer / Drew's season Back to the site

A field journal, May 1, 2025 to September 2, 2025

Drew's season at Ghost House Farm

Each week through the growing season, we sat with Drew and Allison to read their crop, talk through what was happening in the greenhouse, and write it down. What you are reading is the journal that came out of it, one episode per week.

  1. Episode 1

    May 1, 2025

    Allison and Drew's journey

    Through out the season, we are going to follow Allison and Drew’s journey to their tomato yield increase.

  2. Episode 2

    May 8, 2025

    Crop uniformity

    Here’s what happened in the previous week: 3 new leaves & one new cluster = excellent growth!

  3. Episode 3

    May 15, 2025

    Forcing plants into fruit production

    This week, Allison & Drew have officially caught up with us in terms of growth! With cherry tomatoes now taller than Drew. Very nice!!

  4. Episode 4

    May 22, 2025

    Pruning to fight gray mold

    The infected leaves will only get worse from now on. Pruning and removing them from the tunnel will reduce the spread.

  5. Episode 5

    May 29, 2025

    Increasing fruit load as soon as possible

    Where we see the newly set fruits, we should be seeing almost half-grown tomatoes.

  6. Episode 6

    June 5, 2025

    Pruning fruits to increase yields

    Things are going great in Ghost House Farm’s production! Last week, they told Orisha they had a low fruit load and it increased the 24h average temperature to 81’F.

  7. Episode 7

    June 13, 2025

    Focus on ripening older fruits

    There is one thing to look out for: exhaustion.

  8. Episode 8

    June 19, 2025

    Rebalance plants by tweaking irrigation

    We need to know if soil is too wet for too long, which is a signal for plants to grow leaves rather than fruits.

  9. Episode 9

    July 1, 2025

    Already beaten 2023's season

    A whole lot more, a heck of a lot sooner. Very, very great. High five, guys!

  10. Episode 10

    July 8, 2025

    Major yield gap between varieties

    Many growers have trouble with fruit setting. Because their varieties do not fit their climate.

  11. Episode 11

    July 15, 2025

    Finish tomatoes before touching anything else

    A single bed of tomatoes earn you more than 20 beds of peas

  12. Episode 12

    July 22, 2025

    Saving the fall harvest: how to fight diseases

    We've worked too hard to lose our profits to diseases!

  13. Episode 13

    August 5, 2025

    The final stretch to double the yield

    In the coming weeks, we will explore the best methods to terminate the crop: pinching off, pruning, and lowering.

  14. Episode 14

    August 26, 2025

    No more energy should be wasted into tomato growth

    Every tomato that sets after that time mark won’t ripen.

  15. Episode 15

    September 2, 2025

    Hard pruning time

    Since plants won’t create new fruits for the rest of the season, we want them to be as big as possible.

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