Meet Trackside Farm from Hickman, Nebraska!
"I Farm, You Eat!
What Trackside Farm offers:
- Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs
- Honey
- Garlic - over 10 varieties!
- Dried Beans, Dehydrated veggies, Jam & Jellies
"We are a 15 acre farm in Hickman, specializing in naturally grown, with a focus on the unique varieties. Chile peppers, garlic, and fun things not often seen are our specialties."
Stop by Trackside Farm's market stand at the Sunday Market at College View you'll probably find something unique - from mullberries and blackberries, to Scotch Bonnet chile peppers, and dried pinto beans. James and Nancy Scalan and Sandy Williams, owners and farmers of Trackside Farm, love to experiment, grow new crops, and introduce them to eager market goers. Started in 2014 Trackside Farm specializes in fruit, unique veggies, many varieties of garlic, honey, jams and jellies and dried veggies/beans.
Whats the difference between a big purple heirloom tomato and tiny pear shaped red cherry tomato?
No, this isn't the start of joke, but it is a good question. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between radish from tomato or lettuce from melons. What about the differences between types of radish, or types of tomato? Those different expressions within the same type is called a "variety." So a brandywine tomato is a variety of tomato - The Brandywine variety has stable characteristics and qualities like size, taste, color and growing habit. Let's take radishes as an example. Radishes are a part of the Brassicaceae family- Genus "Raphanus", Species "Sativus". Within Raphanus Sativus are hundreds of types of radishes, small red round radishes, long cylindrical white daikon radishes, small slender green radishes - they come in all colors from white to black and all sizes from 1/2 inch to 20 inch. Miyashige, Nero Tondo, and French Breakfast are all varieties of radish - same veggie, different genetic expression! These radish varieties have been selected by people, or favored by their environment (or a combo of both) to produce radishes with certain traits- green flesh, days to maturity, shape, preferred weather, and usage are selected as traits. It can take years to develop a variety through selection - every growing season you select for certain traits, keep those plants, harvest seed, and start again the next year with more selection.
What would your perfect radish look, taste or grow like? An intriguing idea is that you can experiment and breed your own vegetable varieties at home! Check out the book Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener for a deeper dive into varieties and breeding!
Where to find Trackside Farm:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hicktracks/
- Sunday Market at College View
- tracksidegrown@gmail.com
- 267-809-4993
- More information found here: http://buylocalnebraska.org/online-food-guide/trackside-farm