Farm Happenings

Weather: Cold and grey turned to hot and steamy by Wednesday afternoon. A half-inch of rain fell on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, which the plants just loved.

What We Did: We started off last Friday to mow cover crops, but the mower broke and we are waiting on parts now. Emily, Sanna, little Ben, and Zane rotated through thistle-whacking duty. Chris seeded carrots, beets, and salad greens. Big Ben, Zack, and Sarah planted potatoes up on the ridge; planting them late has seemed to help avoid disease and insect pressure. Big Ben, little Ben, Inga, and Sanna transplanted the winter squash on the rental ground, across the creek – our first crops in those fields, which we have spent two years preparing. Big Ben drilled buckwheat in the fallow fields at the rental ground, for soil building and weed control. Zach and Ryan cleaned out the bins we used last year to harvest and store root crops and cabbage, so that those are ready to go for the fall’s big harvests. Somebody transplanted out the Brussels sprouts and more broccoli and basil, but I can’t remember who. Chris subsoiled beds for the fall storage crops; we’ll plant rutabagas in the next dry spell. Bekah didn’t get any glamour jobs, but kept things moving along nonetheless. Chris used the tine weeder to kill weeds all over the farm when things dried out just enough after Tuesday’s rain and before Wednesday’s.