This week on the farm a low of 25 degrees surprised us after such a warm, sunny afternoon. We were lulled into thinking we didn’t need to follow the afternoon checklist & left the hot house door ajar. The next morning we checked all tomato & pepper seedlings for frost damage & because we watered everything thoroughly the day before, there didn’t appear to be any damage. However, the mustards might have some stunting because they were the most exposed. This is a great example of why succession planting is so important in the spring. We always follow our frost date calendar, but sometimes we push the limits & have to replant:) Stay tuned…..
The potato seed arrived! We order from Rocky Farm in Colorado & they’re shipped just in time for St.Patrick’s day planting. The varieties we ordered this season are: German Butterball, Yukon Gold, All Blue, Sangre, Atlantic, Bintje, Nicola, & Russet. Gardening tip: potatoes can be prone to disease & blight. An organic solution is to practice good garden hygiene & consistent crop rotation.
The greenhouse kale, scallions, broccoli, & lettuce have exploded in growth due to the beautiful sunny weather we’ve been enjoying lately. Soon we will transplant seedlings of leeks, onions, mustards, salad mix, & herbs into the greenhouse for quick turn around & plentiful harvests for the May/June shares.
In bee news- an amazing thing happened, much to our surprise. One of the hives actually did survive the winter. A few weeks ago we were convinced of their destruction from a combination of yellow jacket robbing & the Arctic blast of early winter. But when the warmer weather arrived this week, we were able to inspect each hive more carefully & indeed some survived. It is possible that a wild hive moved in, but we’re happy either way. There is plenty of nectar for them from the quince, apple, cherry, & plum trees buds.
We are building some new “chicken tractors” this season for our free range layer chickens & meat chickens. The “chicken tractors” are portable aviaries that keep the chickens in free range rotation on pasture while protecting them from owls, raptors, red foxes, & coyotes. It is a great way to let the chickens scratch through the garden, eating potential pests like cabbage loppers.
Coming soon: farm distillery news & a biogas digester update. Don’t miss it!
