Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
FINCEL'S
FINCEL'S. The opening of Fincel produce stands in Dubuque has been an eagerly anticipated event for decades. The Fincel family began farming in 1885. The original five acre farm was located near the present-day JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS and grew to 17 acres in the 1920s. When Deere & Company bought the farm in the mid 1960s, the operations were moved to East Dubuque, on Frentress Lake Road, to expand from 17 acres to 100 acres.
Farming operations begin early in the year. Some seeds are started indoors in February so that the seeds germinate. Seedlings are then moved to one of three greenhouses. As the weather warms, seedlings can be moved into cold frames and the other two greenhouses. By late April, two of the three greenhouses are fully planted with their earliest tomatoes of the season, in hope of having fresh tomatoes by late June or early July.
Field work is able to begin as soon as the ground has thawed sufficiently and is not too wet for the tractors. The ground first has to be prepared for the first sweet corn planting in mid April. The plantings are spaced so that a new field of sweet corn will be available for picking roughly every other day beginning in early July, through September.
Every year, seed company representatives offer Frank and his family between 20 and 30 different hybrid varieties of sweet corn to test. Experimental corn varieties are tested each year to find the best yield and flavor. The Fincel family prefers to grow bi-color corn, as it consistently delivers the best flavor and tenderness and the highest sugar content.
The 16 person picking crew begins its work each day at the break of dawn to pick the corn by hand and have it available by the opening of its market locations. The Fincel's only sell their corn on the day that it is picked. Unsold corn is donated to local food pantries or composted.
About 26 acres of the land is used for the cultivation of asparagus, strawberries, kohlrabi, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, potatoes, 5,000 field-planted tomato plants, muskmelon, watermelon, eggplant, bell peppers, several varieties of hot peppers, green beans and yellow wax beans, several varieties of squash, pumpkins, and gourds. Fincel's sons, Frank (V) and Craig, have recently planted fruit trees and berry bushes. Frank (V) and wife Sarah have a garden of nearly an acre in size in which they grow many other vegetables to sell including radishes, onions, leeks, kohlrabi, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, sugar pea pods, sugar snap peas, beets, other hot peppers, okra, brussel sprouts, some heirloom tomatoes, and select herbs.
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