We've had some much needed rain, 2 inches according to the rain gauge on the farm, so the field will be too wet to work in much today. We should be able to hand weed the carrots, cilantro and dill today. A couple of weeks ago I used a flame weeder to kill weeds that had germinated in the carrot, cilantro and dill rows. I flamed the weeds just as the carrot and herb seeds were starting to germinate, so the carrots and herbs were still under soil and safe from the flame. There are new weeds growing in the rows, and the best way to deal with them now is to pull them. It's delicate and time consuming work, best done when the soil has moisture in it.
How does he do it? The Tiny Farm Blog guy is amazing. I mean, there's a post and a picture just about EVERY DAY! Interesting posts, nice photos. I've been keeping his blog a secret from you because .... well, I thought you might start getting ideas that I should write about the farm and take photos everyday. That probably won't happen this year! Here's a better idea: read his blog and you'll have a pretty good notion of what was happening in Belmont two weeks ago - except for the fire and the chickens, of course.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
New Farmers!
Liz Green, 2008 Belmont CSA farm intern extraordinaire, drives tractor, transplants at the speed of light, hoes enthusiastically AND she writes! Check out Liz's blog: http://www.lizgreen.blogspot.com/
Justin Deri, our talented 2007 assistant grower, is managing his own farm and CSA in Maine this year. Here's his farm's web site: http://www.derifarm.com/farm.html
Justin Deri, our talented 2007 assistant grower, is managing his own farm and CSA in Maine this year. Here's his farm's web site: http://www.derifarm.com/farm.html
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hoeing
Last week we began thinking about weeds. When we disturb the soil in the beds we see the white thread-like roots of pigweed and galen soga. They are just the tiniest little things right now. Easy to miss if you're not looking for them.
If we don't take care of them now, they won't be so easy to miss in a few weeks. Nor will they be so easy to kill. Very shallow hoeing, and hoeing that 'fluffs' the soil on the surface, should do the trick. Shallow hoeing kills the newly germinated weeds and stirs up the weed seed in the top 1/2" of soil. "Fluffing" the soil should make it harder for the next bunch of weed seeds to germinate. Theory is that with enough shallow hoeing the weed pressure will be greatly reduced, maybe the weeds will disappear altogether. (Did I mention the theory also says it could take a couple of decades to deplete the weed seed bank?)
I've been told that shallow hoeing also helps preserve soil moisture by interfering with the capillary action of the soil. Tower, Smith, Turton and Cope explain it a bit in their 1920 text, Physics: http://tiny.cc/fRwdx
If we don't take care of them now, they won't be so easy to miss in a few weeks. Nor will they be so easy to kill. Very shallow hoeing, and hoeing that 'fluffs' the soil on the surface, should do the trick. Shallow hoeing kills the newly germinated weeds and stirs up the weed seed in the top 1/2" of soil. "Fluffing" the soil should make it harder for the next bunch of weed seeds to germinate. Theory is that with enough shallow hoeing the weed pressure will be greatly reduced, maybe the weeds will disappear altogether. (Did I mention the theory also says it could take a couple of decades to deplete the weed seed bank?)
I've been told that shallow hoeing also helps preserve soil moisture by interfering with the capillary action of the soil. Tower, Smith, Turton and Cope explain it a bit in their 1920 text, Physics: http://tiny.cc/fRwdx
Monday, April 21, 2008
Volunteer Work Day
A dozen shareholders and friends worked with me on Saturday morning. We did a little bit of everything: moving rocks, clearing brush, seeding the next crops of lettuce, spinach, beets, summer squash, and hunting for woodchucks. It was really nice to have so much enthusiastic help! Here are a few photos taken on Saturday, courtesy of Skippy's mom.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Gotcha!
I know it's not at all befitting for a farmer to be squeamish, but I am. At least when it comes to dead rodents. My dear husband joined me for "rodent patrol" in the hoop house Sunday morning. His job was to empty any full mouse traps we found. We just found one. I'm pretty sure it was the same mouse I saw yesterday -- beady-eyes and all.
I hope that mouse didn't tell his friends and family where he was getting all those delicious seeds. I reset the trap, just in case.
I hope that mouse didn't tell his friends and family where he was getting all those delicious seeds. I reset the trap, just in case.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Rainy Days
These farm photos were taken on April 4, after we'd had a bit of rain. You can see evidence of soil compaction: water drains poorly between the beds, where the tractor tires traveled.
The newly transplanted veggies love this weather.
The overcast skies and cool daytime temperatures aren't so great for the seedlings in the hoop house. They are germinating and growing more slowly than I'd like and there's some damping off in the lettuce. The vulcan label you see in one of the cell trays marks a variety of lettuce I'm growing for early sales to some wholesale accounts.
The photos were taken by Kathy, Skippy's mom. Kathy lives just around the corner from the farm and graciously shares her photos with us. Thanks Kathy!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Thief!
A four-legged, beady-eyed, hungry, seed thief greeted me this afternoon as I was checking the newly potted-up tomatoes. It was a field mouse on top of a bench in the hoop house, a bench four foot off the ground! He scampered away when I yelled at him. I swear, he would have kept eating the newly seeded pepper and tomato seeds if I hadn't cursed loudly.
I looked around for more damage. Seems this little guy (or members of his family) like seeds. A quarter of the spinach that was seeded this week had been dug up and eaten.
I've booby-trapped the place. Mouse traps with tiny dabs of peanut butter are everywhere: on the benches and floor of the hoop house and around the outside of the house near little mouse-sized holes.
Last year the early-season rodent battle was with voles. They'd climb up on the benches and tear seedlings off at the soil line. Apparently they use the little green seedlings for nests. Mouse traps worked pretty well on them. I hope they work on field mice.
I looked around for more damage. Seems this little guy (or members of his family) like seeds. A quarter of the spinach that was seeded this week had been dug up and eaten.
I've booby-trapped the place. Mouse traps with tiny dabs of peanut butter are everywhere: on the benches and floor of the hoop house and around the outside of the house near little mouse-sized holes.
Last year the early-season rodent battle was with voles. They'd climb up on the benches and tear seedlings off at the soil line. Apparently they use the little green seedlings for nests. Mouse traps worked pretty well on them. I hope they work on field mice.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Transplanting
On Thursday we transplanted three beds of brassicas - kale, napa cabbage, bok choy and kohlrabi. Then we covered these beds with row cover to protect the seedlings from pests (woodchucks, rabbits and flea beatles). As soon as the field dries out we'll t'plant all the storage onions and leeks, and the first plantings of beets, scallions and lettuce.
I transplant almost all of the vegetables I grow. Transplanting, as opposed to direct seeding, has a number of benefits. First, it gives the veggies a size advantage in their competition with weeds. That's important, especially given the galen soga and pigweed-filled seed bank on my acre. These weeds will quickly outgrow and crowd out vegetable crops, sharply reducing yield and greatly increasing the difficulty and time needed to harvest. Second, starting most of my seed indoors means I can start the season earlier than mother nature intended. That means the first fresh lettuce, beets, carrots, radishes, etc. will be eaten in May rather than June; tomatoes, eggplant and peppers in July, rather than August. Third, transplanting allows me to grow more vegetables because it shortens the amount of time (by around two weeks) each crop is taking up space in the field. For example, a lettuce seed takes around 45 days to grow into a full-sized head of lettuce if it's sown directly in the field. A 4 week old lettuce seedling that is transplanted needs around 30 days in the ground. So, transplanting one bed of lettuce seedlings, rather than direct-seeding lettuce seeds, can free up two weeks of bed space. This season I will transplant 21 beds of lettuce, saving 42 weeks of bed space for other veggies.
I transplant almost all of the vegetables I grow. Transplanting, as opposed to direct seeding, has a number of benefits. First, it gives the veggies a size advantage in their competition with weeds. That's important, especially given the galen soga and pigweed-filled seed bank on my acre. These weeds will quickly outgrow and crowd out vegetable crops, sharply reducing yield and greatly increasing the difficulty and time needed to harvest. Second, starting most of my seed indoors means I can start the season earlier than mother nature intended. That means the first fresh lettuce, beets, carrots, radishes, etc. will be eaten in May rather than June; tomatoes, eggplant and peppers in July, rather than August. Third, transplanting allows me to grow more vegetables because it shortens the amount of time (by around two weeks) each crop is taking up space in the field. For example, a lettuce seed takes around 45 days to grow into a full-sized head of lettuce if it's sown directly in the field. A 4 week old lettuce seedling that is transplanted needs around 30 days in the ground. So, transplanting one bed of lettuce seedlings, rather than direct-seeding lettuce seeds, can free up two weeks of bed space. This season I will transplant 21 beds of lettuce, saving 42 weeks of bed space for other veggies.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Rock harvest
Did I mention that I uncovered a lot of rocks when I was plowing? CSA shareholders, friends and family are invited to help pick rocks on the next shareholder volunteer day, Saturday, April 19, 10:00-noon. Those who really want to can take home a rock. Maybe two. If rock harvesting is not your cup of tea, we'll also be seeding trays and maybe transplanting seedlings. Let me know if you will be joining us (I want to make sure there are enough rocks for everyone).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)