Moose Hill Community Farm

Another Day in the Fields

Our first crop of lettuces have gone in the ground.  These were started in the greenhouse, then transplanted in our upper field.  We've put row cover over some of the crops.  These help keep crops warm as well as keep pests out.

Small lettuce plants are under this row cover.

Our radishes are also under cover for now.

Even though seeds were just planted last week - we already have sprouts!  Below are tiny carrot seedlings poking up through the soil.

The beds you see below are the future home of our strawberries.  We'll be planting root stock that will need a year to get established.  We've run drip irrigation tubes in the beds in case we have to irrigate at some point.

It's not all crops on the farm.  With the help of Eagle Scouts and volunteers we have erected a number of nest boxes in both fields that provide nesting sites for a number of birds.  We put them up to aid bluebirds, but other birds use them as well.  Bluebirds are already nesting in several boxes and we've already seen eggs in one nest!  Volunteers help us monitor the nest boxes each year.  In addition to birds using the nest boxes, we often find bird nests in our summer squash plants and once in our strawberry patch.

 
 
 
 
 

ACTION IN THE FIELDS

Well it sure seems that spring is here.  While the casual passerby might mistake the field in the photo below as just "rows of dirt" - we can't be more excited.  On Wednesday a portion of the main field was tilled and carefully planted with some of our cool season crops.  The soil in the photo below will soon sprout peas, carrots, beets, greens and radishes.  Except for the peas, this is just the first of several successional plantings of these crops.  We expect to see carrots, beets, greens and other crops numerous times throughout the growing season.

We've also started tilling the upper field as well.  Three tractors were hard at work Thursday preparing the fields for planting.

 
 
 More cool season crops will be going into this field - lettuce, broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage and others.  I love the names of some of the varieties - Gypsy, Verte Mar, Sierra, Green Forest, Bravo . . . .

Some of our crops get planted in plastic.  We punch holes in the plastic and then put either seedlings or seeds in the holes.  The plastic helps to keep moisture in and keep weeds out.  We generally plant most of our lettuces in plastic covered beds.  It is a biodegradable form of plastic bed.  Below are the lettuce plants "hardening off" in the coldframes waiting to be planted.  There are some herbs on the right and some broccoli off to the left.

Some of our warm season crops, such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are still in the greenhouse, where they will remain for a number of weeks until the soil and air , temperatures are warm enough and summer is truly here.  We have a mixture of heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and red tomatoes as well as a variety of eggplants, sweet peppers and several varieties of hot peppers including habanero, jalapeno and hungarian hot wax.  I can't wait to make fresh salsa!

Keep your eye on the fields as things will change weekly as we await the first harvest.
 

 
 
 

SPRING SEEDLINGS

With the sun and warmth I couldn't resist heading down to the greenhouses to see some of the seedlings Jim Ward has planted for the CSA.  Our organic seedlings are carefully color-coded, so they can remain easily separted from other crops in the greenhouse.  Here is a photo of the seed germinator, where seeds get warm, moist conditions to get a speedy start.

After the seeds germinate (usually 1-3 days), they get transferred out and onto flats.

In the forefront are lettuces - you can read the varieties on the trays.  There are also broccolis, herbs in pots, onions, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, hot peppers (I saw a try of habaneros!)  When they get larger , out to the outer greenhouse, to acclimate to the real world.

It looks like a good stretch of weather through the weekend, so lettuces will go into the fields possibly as early as Tuesday!  They look and smell delicious!

Some Chicken manure waiting to be spread on the fields . . . .