First Plantings

The season is off to a good start!  The ground tilled up nice and easy, not too wet, not too dry–unlike last year when you could find the great titanic tractors of the 21st century sinking in the mud of deluged fields across the midwest.  Our good friend Kelsey–who interned with us last year–was out last week to help do the first in-field planting of the season.  We planted cover crops all day–plants that are not meant to be harvested, but planted to suppress weeds, hold the soil in place and add nutrients/organic matter to the soil. The field that will eventually be brassica plantings (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale) got covered with clover and and oats were seeded for the in-field tractor path. My wonderful girlfriend Heather was out today to help plant the peas, carrots and spinach and do a little greenhouse work.  Next on the list will be beets, mustard greens, and others that can handle a little frost.

Jerry Ford (whom we rent our land from) has been stocking up on laying hens to provide eggs for the CSA. Over the winter he completed the new chicken tractor, the “yolk boat”, a mobile home for the chicks while they cruise through the cow pasture, eating up all the tasty bugs in site.

Meanwhile, the greenhouse has been filling up with all sorts of baby plants that will be ready to be transplanted into the fields within a few weeks (see picture). Your tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and onions have all been started and are getting bigger by the day!  I also brought in a cubic yard worth of potting soil to plant more seedlings in the greenhouse (we order it in bulk with neighboring farms from a company called Cowsmo).

 

I will be at the upcoming Seward CSA fair on Saturday the 21st if anyone wants to stop in at our booth and say hi.  Thanks to all who attended the Eastside CSA fair the other week, it was a great turnout!  We are going to be planting a couple hundred trees this coming thursday (the 19th) if anyone has the day off and wants to come check out the farm and put a few trees in the ground.

In two weeks Kevin Karl–co-runner of Sleepy Root–will be returning from his MN winter hiatus. He has been schooling in Montreal, traveling to other farms in South America and the Southern US and, now that the average last frost date is only a month or so away, finds it safe to return to these northern parts.

If you have not made your down payment for the CSA yet please do so or contact me as soon as possible so that you do not loose your spot for the year–shares are filling up fast!

Hope everyone is well!