Lots happening at the farm this past week. The warm weather made volunteering a pleasant experience for us and our group of Chevrus High School students. Sixteen students from their environmental studies club came to help with some of our early spring chores. Laying wood chips in our aisles, cleaning beds for planting, moving sandbags, and spreading compost were tasks they tackled. I hope they can come back to do some planting and then later for harvesting to be able to participate in the full circle of what we do here.
John’s “fix it” team made lots of progress on tunnel repairs and setting up the deer fence. I gave two of the youngest members a “spinach break”. They found leaves larger than their faces! Looks like another spinach gleaning is on the schedule for this upcoming week.
We are doing lots more multi-cropping this year. Saturday volunteers planted 1,000 onion seedlings and 150 lettuce interplanted with alyssum all in the same bed. This will help keep the soil covered as well as promote photosynthesis. Plant diversity increases the plant’s ability to confuse those unwanted insects.
Our expansion was planted with an early cover crop of field peas and oats, now rain, please. Hoping in six weeks we can cut it, tarp it and plant a bulk of this year’s squash.
Lots more seedlings were started, filling the seedling trailer and now the greenhouse. Lots more planned for this week.
Nice to have volunteers come to the farm this week and be able to take their coats off!
Thank you, everyone. Theda