Asparagus and Parsley Looking Good

Therisa and I cleaned up and edged the asparagus patch today.  There were still quite a few little parsley plants hiding amongst the weeds.  Asparagus and parsley are planted together because the two plants boost each other's vitality.  It's clear that the asparagus provides a cool, shady place for the parsley to hide during the hot summer months.  I'm not sure what the parsley does for the asparagus, but I suspect that it's odor helps to keep away asparagus loving bugs.

Here is the asparagus patch before we got started.

And here it is once we were finished.

This is one of the many parsley plants we found hidden amongst the weeds.  It was so nice to see that they survived the summer.

I also planted arugula, dill, mustard, chard and collards in the leaf bed.  The arugula we planted last week is already up.  It's so exciting to see the fall crops starting!

Fall Root Bed ready to go!

Alyson and I spent about 4 hours prepping B1 for the fall root crops on Friday.  We got everything done except covering the surrounding paths to keep the weeds down.  B1 had cover crop on it which Bradley had cut down a week earlier.  Not needing to weed and redefine the bed certainly cut down on our prep time!

Over the course of the fall we will plant this bed with parsnips, carrots, beets, radishes and eventually garlic.

Moving on to the upcoming week, there will be 3 work days:

Tuesday, August 16 from 7 AM to 11 AM we will clean up the asparagus bed (C4) and surrounding paths in preparation for planting fall parsley.  We'll also plant lettuce, mustard, collards and chard in C2.

Saturday, August 20 from 8 AM to noon we will clear out the weeds and compost from B5 (on another day we will prep this bed for fall planting of grain crops with the 3rd grade).  We will also clean up the bean, strawberry and raspberry beds and feed them with the compost on B5.

I hope some of you can make it!

If you can't make it during work hours, but want to come out and work on your own, pulling all the enormous weeds off of B5 (now a compost pile behind the tomatoes in B4) would be very helpful.  Also, cutting down the taller weeds in A3 and adding a thick layer of horse manure from the pile just outside the garden (between the garden and the horse barn, near the electric fence) would be extremely helpful.  Thank you in advance, for anything you are able to do.

Our front gate.

Close up of lantana next to front gate.

Bed for leaf crops finished

Alyson and I finished the new leaf bed this morning.  You can just see the yellow flags that show where we planted dill, arugula and mustard.  This bed took 7 people hours to complete so I've decided to forgo the second leaf bed and just plant fewer leaf crops this fall.  I think the next bed we prep will take less time because it was planted in cover crop this summer which is now breaking down to provide more nitrogen for our root crops.  Below is a picture of the bed next to it still covered with crowder peas (also known as black eyed peas), a cover crop that helps build nitrogen.

And here is the bed that we will be prepping for root crops on Friday (8/12).  I'll be working at the farm from 8 AM to noon then.  Please come and help out if you are able. 

Honey Bees

At last we have a hive of honey bees at the garden.  They were rescued from a (people) house and moved into a hive 50 feet back from our garden shed.  Natalie Sadler is the wonderful person who installed them and will be caring for them.  The bees and their honey and hive belong to her, but we get the benefit of their pollinating skills, the sound of their happy buzzing, and the sight of their brownish bodies dancing among the flowers all during the growing season.  They definitely add a healthy new element to the garden.

Here they are zipping in and out of their entrance.  Their entrance faces east to catch the morning sun and is backed by shade trees so they aren't too hot in the afternoon. 

Here is a full shot of their hive.  Such a beautiful shade of cedar red!

Fall Bed Prep

What a wonderful morning it was this morning.  Viorica (our 3rd grade teacher) and I met at the garden and nearly finished prepping a bed for fall leaf crops.  We weeded and trenched it.  Then we laid down cardboard and wood chips all the way around it and covered 2/3 of the bed with compost.

Tomorrow we'll add a little bone meal, give the whole thing a good stirring and spray it with Pfeiffer field and garden prep.  Once all that is done, we'll plant arugula and dill.  Lettuce will go in this bed next Tuesday as it needs to wait a bit so that the weather will be cooler by the time it sprouts.  

Depending on how much help I get tomorrow and how much energy we have after we finish our new bed, we may do some much needed weeding and feeding of the basil, asparagus and sorrel beds as well.

I'll be at the garden from 8 AM to noon tomorrow (Monday, 8/8).  Please come help any time during those 4 hours if you have the time and want a good workout.  :-)

Work days this week

It is time to start prepping beds for fall planting!  I will be at the garden 8 am to noon on Sunday (8/7) and 8 am to noon on Monday (8/8) prepping C2 and D7 for leaf crops and putting in arugula, dill and mustard.  Lettuce, spinach, collards, cilantro and chard will go in later as we move towards cooler weather.  

I'll also be there from 8 to noon on Friday (8/12) prepping B1 and A5 for root crops (garlic, parsnip, beet, carrot, and radish).

Please come help if you have time during any of those hours - no need to be there the whole time, even an hour of help will make a big difference.  

Thank you in advance for any help you are able to provide!

Sweet potato slips transplanted by our farm camp in late July.

Flowforms

Here is a series of pictures from this spring when Jennifer Greene of the Water Research Institute of Blue Hill came to Emerson Farm to build flow forms.  It was quite a process.  First we cleaned and oiled all of the molds, then we bolted them together and poured carefully mixed concrete into each one.  Grades 2, 3, and 9 all had a chance to get involved.  Below you can see grade 2 with a grouping of recently poured molds.

Once the molds have been poured and had a chance to set up a little bit, they are moved to another area where they can safely stay after the molds are removed.  Below is a recently moved form waiting to be unbolted.

Before the bolts can be removed, Grace (one of our adult volunteers) knocks off excess concrete with a rubber mallet and chisel.

Here you can see some of our second graders removing bolts so that the form can be released.

Here is a finished section of flow form.

When all was done, some of our 2nd graders went around and cleaned up excess concrete chips.  Got to keep the farm clean!

Emerson Farm is keeping one of the flow forms and installing it in the garden.  Eventually we hope to use it for stirring some of our biodynamic preps.  If you are interested in seeing what our form will look like, check out this link.