Garlic is shooting up once again. Although we’re only five days into a nice warm weather stretch, this year’s crop of Music seems to be at almost the same place as last year’s garlic in the all-mild April of 2006. You can see it growing by the day. Elsewhere in the field, things are moving ahead faster and with more on the go than ever before, with Conall (the all-new organic grower) picking up new field skills practically by the hour. Let’s see how things continue to shape up!
Month: April 2007
The spreader
Last of the big machine work! Bob using the spreader to drop off a pile of compost for distribution by shovel (shot two days ago). There is something really satisfying in this crazy world about technology that is straightforward, like a giant fan-blade device for tossing manure far and wide! Today, I finished rototilling the new section, ending the main tractor work. From here, most of the fieldwork is done by hand—the biggest machine is the little Kubota. Later on in the day, it rained, only 5mm but enough to save hours of watering-in newly seeded beds. Time to start keeping track of the rain…
Off to the hoophouse
The first set of tomatoes is now in the unheated (but heatable!) hoophouse. They’re freshly installed in 3″ Jiffy pots (peat pots that can be planted), watered in, and awaiting the first night’s cold. It’s supposed to go down to 3°C (37°F), which isn’t bad, but it’s always chillier in the field than in the forecast. Peeking out from under the table, two fat little propane tanks: round about midnight, I’ll be on temperature patrol, ready to fire up the propane construction heater if it looks like a freeze. Working the night shift. Farming after dark!
Carrot science
Welcome to my carrot lab! Carrots have been my biggest early spring headache. In cool weather, they take forever to germinate, 2 or 3 weeks, and by that time, the chance of weed competition is pretty good, and just about anything growing around the tiny seedlings makes excruciatingly time-consuming surgical hand weeding a necessity. What to do? Last year, I tried IRT (plastic) mulch over the bed. This worked great, heating up the soil, speeding germination to 7 days, and keeping weeds down. Problem was, miss the germination window (when a good number have emerged) by a few hours or a day, and the seedlings got toasted in the heat. Too delicate a balance. So, a new approach, something I’d read about. It involves a double layer of (untreated!) burlap. Simple. The burlap acts as a mulch to retain moisture and increase soil temperature, and it also allows in water and some light. What could be easier?!?! Now, all it has to do is WORK! (Update: it worked like a charm…)
Field at night
Nights are warming up now, so it looks like I won’t be cruising through the near pitch black field much longer, checking temperature in the greenhouse. There’s not much to see or do out there after dark.
Getting busy
Hot peppers, and tomatoes behind. They’re some of the last set of seedlings, a bit of an experiment to see how late I can start ’em without slowing down later growth in the field. Outdoors, it’s been warm, gray and drizzling for two days now, things are starting to emerge, crops and weeds both, and it’s already time for a second planting of spinach and mesclun. Inside, the last several hundred seedlings are ready to be potted up and moved out to the greenhouse. We’re right at the point when things suddenly start to get intensely busy!
Fixed it
The riding mower finally got a new transmission belt, putting it back in commission. It had been sorely missed all spring. This little workhorse, designed to sedately trim suburban lawns, has over the last three years done some serious small-farming duty. It’s used to mow the garden paths, chop up big crop residue like corn, and haul everything around the field: gear, compost, rocks, building materials, harvest bins and baskets. Elsewhere, more gray drizzle and lots of potting up and moving seedlings to the greenhouse. The rain’s been great. Sun, please.