We planted 10 beds of potatoes last week! To get it all done in one day we used a tractor to make furrows and then we dropped a seed potato every foot. After laying out drip tape we used the hilling discs on the tractor to cover them all up again. Dave, our new Assistant Grower, started work just in time to help us plant all the potatoes before the rain began! Dave is an avid gardener and is trying out farming for the first time. He and Shaun are now on the farm full time for the season.
It is important to have a full farm crew in May as work really start to pick up! This time of year, each day starts with the asparagus harvest. When we meet up at 7am we head out to the asparagus field with knives and 5 gallon buckets. We each walk along a row, cutting any spear that looks tall enough. We walk quickly because after the harvest and washing is done it is time to prepare for the many crops to come next month and beyond! Last week we began setting up our deer fencing, installed some new herb beds by the farm stand, worked on securing row covers all over the farm, and continued seeding in the greenhouse and directly in the field. We also did plenty of transplanting and weeding this past week. In addition to potatoes we planted lettuce, bok choy, scallions, chard and lettuce. We also started our weed control campaign by using our basket weeder on the carrots and beets. We use a combination of tractor cultivation and hand weeding to make sure that each crop can out-compete the weeds for nutrients, space, and light. This week we will be carefully weeding and thinning the carrots and beets by hand to ensure a good harvest in June!
In the farm store this week we will continue to have asparagus, microgreens, and mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm. We will also have our own basil and parsley plants. We hope to have field greens including arugula and red Russian kale by the end of the week.
2017 farm store hours continue this week:
- Tuesday/Thursday 11am-6pm
- Wednesday/Friday 2pm-6pm
- Saturday 10am-3pm
Shaun using the Farmall 140 hilling discs to cover our potatoes (and drip irrigation).