Thursday, January 26, 2012

Work Days January 29 to February 4

Thursday, February 2:00 from 8:30 to 11:00:  We'll plant carrots, weed a new space for leeks, weed our fall root bed, and add a layer of manure to the compost.

Friday, February 3 from 1:00 to 3:00:  We'll finish anything that didn't get done on Thursday and spread cardboard and wood chips around the beds.

Saturday, February 4 from 10:00 to noon:  We'll weed space for planting rudbeckia and borage, prune the rose bush, weed and feed the big shaded flower bed and finish defining another bed for annuals.

Pictures of the Week
It's January, but already we are hard at work defining beds for spring planting thanks to the lovely warm weather we've been having this year.
Here you can see Mrs. Sparacino with one of our dedicated 3rd grade groups edging up a bed.


Here are Ms. Polido and Ms. Militante helping to turn the soil with another of our 3rd grade groups.


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Work Days January 22 to 28, 2012

January 25 from 1 to 3:  We'll weed a space in one of the annual beds for larkspur and calendula, plant two huge yellow potted mums that have died back, but I'm told will sprout again when the time is right, finish weeding and feeding the right flower bed and prep another bed for more annuals.

January 27 from 1 to 3:  We'll plant parsley and more celery in flats for the greenhouse, weed and feed and spray with Pfeiffer Field and Garden spray a spot for dill and weed and feed the asparagus and parsley bed.

I hope to see some of you there!

Pictures of the Week


One of the ways we are experimenting with weed control is by preparing a bed 6 weeks before we will actually need to plant it and then weeding it several times as weed seeds germinate so that the bulk of the weed seeds will have germinated before we plant our crop.  Here you can see one of our third grade  crews looking for weeds to pull.


Here are Kiara and Henry up close with a number of yellow dock plants they've dug up.  Yellow dock has very deep roots.  If you don't get the whole root, it will come back again.  These two have done an excellent job of getting the whole thing.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Farm Work Days, January 16 to 21, 2012

Wednesday, January 18 from 1 to 3 pm:  We'll plant our first batch of celery in flats, prep bed space for spinach and cilantro and spray with Pfeiffer Field and Garden spray, weed and feed the stinging nettle,  weed the asparagus, parsley and sorrel and start prepping two more leaf beds for spring planting.

Friday, January 20 from 1 to 3 pm:  We'll finish whatever we couldn't get done on Wednesday and start cleaning out the sheds.

Pictures of the Week


One of the first tasks 3rd grade takes care of each week is emptying the compost buckets from each classroom.  Here you can see their assembly line of dumping, rinsing, scrubbing and rinsing again. 


I couldn't resist this shot of Ella who had a lovely bunch of faded mums direct from the compost tucked into her lapel. Compost is one of the most magical jobs in the garden if you are able to see what happens over time.  The nastiest food scraps mixed with manure and old weeds become the most amazing, crumbly soil!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Farm Work Days Jan. 8 through Jan. 14, 2012

Monday, January 9:  8:30 am to 1:30 pm  We'll work on cleaning up the flower beds and prepping them for spring planting if it's warm enough.  If it's too cold, we'll work on the fence and cleaning out the sheds.

Friday, January 13:  1:30 pm to 3:00 pm  We'll work on prepping a new bed for fruit crops if it is warm enough.  If it's too cold, we'll work on the fence and cleaning out the sheds.

Pictures of the Week

During our last day at the farm with 3rd grade before Winter Holiday, a group of high school students showed up to help set up audience seating for the Shepherd's Play.  Below two of them carry a board out to the seating area to make a bench.

Finnigan supervises one of our HS teacher, Jesse Rabius, as she arranges hay bales for the benches.  I'm pretty sure he's trying to tell her to move them closer to the fence.


Silas admiring the nearly finished seats for the play.  He too thinks they should be a little closer to the fence.