Friday, June 17, 2011

What's Happening on the Farm?

Exciting market news! We are thrilled to announce that our market will feature produce and juice from Red Jacket Orchards! We'll be starting off with apples, strawberries and juice at the first market - a big thank you to the HSPS PTA for coordinating this awesome addition.



As we gear up for our first market (This Wednesday, the 22nd - so exciting!), we're trying to find moments to appreciate just how much is happening on the farm right now, and how far it's come since we started work this season.

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Our cabbage and collard greens are getting huge - when we planted them, a student commented that it was hard to believe those tiny seedlings would become big enough to harvest. It's true, no matter how many seedlings you've seen grow to maturity, it is always amazing.



We've been diligently building trellises for our tomatoes and other crops, something we didn't have a lot of time for last season. The apprentices learned the Florida Weave to trellis the tomatoes. Trellising will help keep the plants free of disease and make harvesting easier (we hope!).



Pests are always an issue on an organic farm, but we're doing our best to stay on top of them. This swallowtail caterpillar is munching on flowering parsley, strategically placed to keep him away from our carrots.



Flowers! Everyone was excited to see the first sunflower in our border bed. We're trying to imagine just how gorgeous the farm will be once the rest of the flowers are in bloom.