This year the antique Planet Jr. seeder finally took over from the Earthway, to handle most of the direct seeding. We’ve been using it for everything but tiny carrot and lettuce seed, where the lighter Earthway is easier to maneuver for closely spaced rows. Here, Lynn rolls out a third planting of beets, no problem. The PJ is heavy and initially hard to handle, but also more precise, uses way less seed than the Earthway, and lays down a well-packed row. And the choice of 60 or so seed holes, at first a pain, turns out to be a great way to appreciate variations in seed between varieties and fine tune seeding rates—we used three different openings to best fit three types of beet (Golden Detroit, Chioggia, Kestrel). It’s great. With this well-aged Planet Jr, old turns out to be our new and improved!
Tools
Equipment for large-scale agriculture is too big or too expensive, and many home gardening tools don’t work efficiently on larger jobs or break easily. Tiny farming on plots up to two or three acres requires its own special gear…
This year’s chickens
The White Rocks have arrived. Yes, 40 more White Rock Cornish X males, here for the fattening and then away for the slaughter. We got two-week-olds for the same reason as last year: save time and care with so many things going on! Their new chickenhouse isn’t quite ready, so I set up temporary quarters in the barn, 2×10’s surrounding a 4×8 sheet of plywood. A brand new feeder and waterer, some fresh wood shavings, and they’re let loose to do what they do best: EAT! (But there are PLANS to get them properly outside this time, eating bugs and romping in the dirt…)
Another hand-watering method
Another fine temporary measure this spring (and another of the many things the trusty Kubota compact tractor can do) is our new spot-watering method. Michelle waters in a last, experimentally late tray of onions with a slightly modified, inexpensive ($5) plastic watering can that holds about 2 gallons (8 l), and has big holes for fast, high-volume output. These cans we usually plunge into a rain barrel (or snow barrel) for filling, and to speed that up, I cut a squarish opening in the top (I always forget to cut the opening to the back, so water doesn’t escape from the top when pouring when full). The trick here is that the water comes from the Kubota’s bucket, maybe 30-40 gallons (110-150 l) of it, depending on how carefully the drive. You fill up, then head over to exactly where you want, like a movable rain barrel! The whole thing is quick and easy, good for watering in new seedings and transplants, until I hook up the field-long irrigation pipe. Quite the luxury, in a way, but the tractor’s already there, and we gotta keep things moving along! :)
Water pipe
A bonus this spring has been the steady rain, not too frequent, like, once a week or so, and somewhere around 1″ (2.5cm) each time. Perfect! Still, today, in the middle of a hot, sunny stretch, thoughts turned to water (not that it was ever far from mind). Out came the coils of 1″ water pipe. In our barebones spot irrigation system, there’s 1″ pipe and a bit of 2-1/2″ pipe, endless 5/8″ garden hose and 50′ sections of soaker hose, the gas-powered irrigation pump, and even 55-gallon barrels and watering cans. Not to mention, piles shut-off valves, quick connectors, and various hose fittings. For now, all that I’m looking to set up is one central line running from the well pump at the house, right down the length of the side-by-side fields, where it can feed the garden hoses. So, uncoiling we go…
50 feet!
Nice sun, but kinda cool and definitely windy. Michelle came by for a day of mostly organizing and arranging: managing seedlings, and measuring and staking out garden sections (now, according to the new garden map). We’re once again using 50′ (15.2m) squares as the basic garden unit. The 100′ (30.5m) reel-up vinyl measuring tape is the handiest tool for this, as we walk up and down and around, a person on each end of the tape, calling out measurements and planting fluorescent-flagged stakes… There’s a satisfying sense of order when a freshly tilled section is staked out. All those neat squares tell you, you are master of your garden, and things are well under control! :)
Filling the fields continues
More slow but steady planting out. Flat-leaf and curly parsley, started so long ago, finally hit the field by the hands of Libby and Lynn. Later in the afternoon, we started one section of potatoes. The timing this spring is…unusual. We’re still tilling and retilling sections to further break up sod, planting the same crop in two or three different spots, and staggering planting dates by waiting as long as possible, to get as much variation in conditions as we can. It’s hedging bets in a new market garden…
Map day!
Finally, the first production map for this new market garden! Usually, it’s a good idea to get a detailed map done early in the winter, before making up the main seed orders (or, if that’s where you’re at, before taking inventory of your vast store of saved seed!). Here, with our hasty start-up in late November, and piecemeal plowing of sections over the last month, it’s been hard to tell how much area would be ready when. This morning, Peter down the road disked the final large area, and as the sun set, I walked around staking out sections with fluorescent marking tape, then sketched out the first production map. Each square is 50′ x 50′ (15m x 15m). To be filled in…