These last few weeks we have been so busy planting and seeding. We nearly have the farm planted out with only about 10 beds to go. We had help a couple weekends ago when Tyler’s brother Zach came to visit. We had one bed of baby carrots that we overwintered and harvested for the first and second markets. Then the tunnel beds were prepped and planted out in tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers and winter squash went in the field. To our surprise, it remained much colder for much longer this year than last year and our winter squash sadly didn’t make it after the cold night in the high 30’s this week. The thing about having a crop plan is that things are seeded out in the nursery many weeks ahead of time and when they get to a certain size they must be planted or they’ll start to decline. As market gardeners, we are always beholden to the weather so we have to be flexible. Spring is the most challenging time since it is cold and blustery. It’s difficult to work in the wind and it’s hard on the plants as well. Although disappointed that the squash died, it’s still okay because we had more seed and it’s definitely not too late to try again!
The best news this year is that we’ve been keeping up on the weeds so far and boy are they germinating now. We feel we are already making a dent in the amount of annual weed seeds that have come up from last year by not tilling. Tyler put down compost on many of the beds last fall and this spring we were able to plant right into them. These beds also have the least amount of weeds.
One of the larger projects we took on was getting the flower patch under control. It took us an entire day to dig out the perennials and quack grass. Finally we have our dahlias, sunflowers, and a few cut flowers starting.
Our first few markets were a major success. We are blown away by how much better we are doing than last year already. Thank you all for coming out to get veggies from us!
Other highlights:
Trellising sugar snap peas
Planting broccoli and cauliflower
Apples are blooming
Strawberries are blooming
Potatoes have sprouted
Grafted tomatoes are looking amazing
Trellising tomatoes
Drip lines installed in the tunnel
Lots of seeding happening
