This Week On The Farm

Because of fields being to wet we weren't able to plant things at the optimum time of the seedlings life. Here is an example of a flower that definitely should not be flowering still in its seedling tray! Below are very large Brandywine and Pruden's Purple waiting to be planted.So this week we have been playing catch-up. The fields were finally dry enough to prepare beds, which Ben did after market on Saturday. Here he is bed shaping at 9:30pm! The following day was a marathon planting day. We planted summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, celery, celeriac, sunflowers, asters, celosia, snapdragons, scabiosa, and marigolds. Next up, tomatoes!

Meanwhile we have lots of crops in the ground that need our attention. Pictured below is our spring brassica planting (broccoli, turnips, bok choi, arugula, etc) under protective row cover.

Here is a nicely weeded bed of turnips and below that a desperately needing to be weeded bed of salad mix. See it in there?

A Winters Worth of Work

This winter we converted our corn crib into a living space so that we can have interns live and work here on the farm. It was full to the brim with ancient corn. We have no idea how old the corn was since we inherited it when we moved to the farm and hadn't dealt with it until now.


It took several truck loads to clear all the corn out. It was not the most pleasant job but the end result is really nice living quarters complete with hot water, electricity, insulation and windows!




Another big project this winter was getting our greenhouse ready to go for the spring. We had put the plastic up in the fall, but we still needed to install the end walls, sliding doors, and ventilation system. Here is a picture of the greenhouse from this week---full of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, lettuce and flowers.

1st week in May

May started off well for us in that we got just over 1 inch of rain. Not too much, not too little. Perfect for our spinach, snap peas, and potatoes pictured above. The plants in the ground should really take off now and we'll be harvesting by the end of the month! We have tiny carrot, beet, salad mix, chard, cilantro, dill, radish and turnip seedlings coming up in our direct seeded beds. Our sweet potato slips came in the mail and got planted just before the rain so they should be off to a good start, all 500 of them! We have begun the spring Brassica planting and have all the kale in the ground. Next up, kohlrabi, cabbage and broccoli. Before seedlings get planted they have to harden off. We move them out of the greenhouse for a few days so that they can adjust to the direct sun and all the wind before we plant them in the field. Pictured above are Brassicas and flowers hardening off. Now, hopefully we will have a few days without rain so we can get these plants planted! The tomatoes pictured our going to be planted in our hoop house to get a jump start and hopefully be ready a few weeks earlier then usual.