It’s halfway through the April showers, and the month is holding true to the famous proverb! The patter of rain/sleet has accompanied most tasks this week, both in and out of doors.
new season, new signs
The weather is delaying some tasks, but Bob and I keep our spirits up by tackling what we can. This includes crafting new signage for the fields. We had some beautiful wood left over from our house construction and it was put to good use with help from Community Based Learning students this week. During one of the chilly bouts we holed up in the barn with tea, stenciling, sanding and painting the signs.
We found a narrow window to get out and turn some soil. Oats and clover were seeded into a field that will be out of veggie production and dedicated to soil building this season. We tilled the primary You Pick field which stands ready for planting when the weather allows.
The greenhouse spinach will be abundant and welcome adjustment to our heavier winter diets. This crop doesn’t grow well in the heat of summer, so we enjoy it in spring and fall instead.
The You Pick share will start with just a couple offerings, but will soon diversify as the weather continues to warm. Mixed greens should be ready to harvest as the spinach slows. As with all the fresh eating greens, they are not season long crops. We plant them often throughout the year, so that a new flush is maturing when another is waning. Fresh asparagus will arrive in May too.
There’s dozens of flats in our greenhouse seeded to kale, broccoli and other goodies to be transplanted outside in a few weeks. Additionally, we heard from our trusty nightshade grower in Lisbon that peppers, tomatoes and eggplants starts are faring well so far. Never Tire Farm does a great job with these crops; we enjoy partnering with Megan so that we can focus on on other tasks.
As soon as we can get into the fields again, we’ll be direct seeding snap peas, scallions (and of course….more greens!). Then comes the onions later in April. That’s a great group task and anyone is welcome to join us for the planting.
Like the newly emerged garlic, our optimism for the season is strong!
fall planted garlic emerging from its mulch