Views from the last season

First harvest 2019

Vigorous buckwheat cover crop from June

From August here's a colorful and bountiful harvest.

Heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, cucumber and eggplants.

The farm prepared to return to a fallow field.

Cover crop mowed, field graded and seeded with ryegrass.

Equipment trucked away for sale.

Harrow, mulch-layer, mower and plow

Tractor goes last.

It was an amazing experience.

Another Season Begins

Three weeks of wet weather has delayed planting in the field.  It's been wonderful for the cover crops creating more biomass and thereby more organic matter in the soil.

Looking out over peas and oats, further on winter rye and a tarp covering the soil to smother weeds. 

Have been busy seeding and starting plants since February.  A few weeks ago this is what the germination racks looked like.

One of the racks that provides warmth, timed-lighting no predators and special care to give crops a great start.

After four years, asparagus sprouts.

Purple Jersey Knight pushing through the mulch. 

The last sunny day when the honeybees were active.

2018 Season Starts

While the onions, leeks and scallions were started in February, other herbs and plants were started in March and April.  Here's what the greenhouse looks like now.

Running out of room and looking forward to planting outside. 

Below are some scenes from the field.

Rhubarb, chives and perhaps next year's asparagus.

Broccoli, kale, collards, chard and beets under cover before the fence goes up to protect from the mammals.

Yesterday's weather was good for planting more onions. They'll be ready in July.

Finally hoping for surplus honey but, more importantly, for lots of honeybees for pollination. 

2017 Harvest and Scenes from the Farm

With threatening skies, looking out over the fallow fields in cover crops of blooming buckwheat and spent winter rye and vetch.

The cover crops are attracting pollinators and smothering weeds.  Hopefully, the pollinators will stick around and discover the flowering squash, cantaloupe and cucumbers. 

Flowering squash

Swallowtail caterpillar eating parsley.

Harvesting the first farm share of the season.

Spring 2017 Hiccups

Last week's storm with its ice and strong winds sheared the sliding doors off the greenhouse.

Looking inside the greenhouse

Once the doors were blown off, the wind worked to blow-out the southeast side.

Plastic ripped off from the frame.

Was able to repair the side with greenhouse tape and more rope. Now, I am awaiting parts for the door. In the meantime, kind Brooks' Facilities staff got the doors to mostly close.

Gratefully, the greenhouse can be repaired. Alas, I cannot say that for the honeybees and my overwintering hive.

Inside the dead hive.

Nothing happening here.

During that unusually warm spell in February, the bees were flying. I gave them some dry food. Came back at the next warm day, which was a month later sadly, and noticed no flying bees. Hence, I found a dead hive. Luckily, I was able to order bees and will work harder to keep healthy honeybees.

Kale and chard sprouting.

Seedlings started and the soon-to-be-full grow racks.

the bright spots

Scenes from the farm June 2016

Well, it's finally raining a bit so that gives me time to write this.

Buckwheat cover crop when I mowed a fox ran out.

Because it's been so dry, because I had help from Team Community Service, AP Environmental Science students and the larger Brooks community, I was able to plant earlier.  (So grateful!)  Hence, that meant the farm shares had carrots and beets in them before July.

Carrots ready for packing.

A glimpse inside the box with radishes, summer squash and zucchini and a bag filled with greens to keep them from wilting. 

The dryness really helped with weeds though.  Thus, the farm looked pretty good and relatively weed-free last week.

2016 Season Starting Early

Early start

Like in past years, the onions and leeks were started in February.  This year I had the great privilege of starting my seedlings on racks in the science building at Brooks.

The building is an incredible germination chamber, so to speak.

Peas, kale and chard in the high tunnel.

Except for my first year of farming, when I did not know any better, I have not tilled the soil this early.  Back to those early days when my late-husband figured out how to use the BCS and we tilled the heavy clay soils that we had in Dracut to plant carrots.  It was a mistake then.  Whilst today, it is not, the soil is different here - lighter and sandier. Moreover, the weather has been favorable for awhile and the cover crop did its good job in protecting and enriching the soil.  I have one more pass here and then hope to lay the "plastic mulch" to plant onions, leeks and shallots out.  Later maybe even carrots!

Re-seeded clover aisles and a newly tilled quadrant with other blocks waiting to be mowed.

Bees

Alas, I have become a reluctant beekeeper.  Last year one of the hives did not make it, so this year I bought another three-pound package of bees.  Because I am not the calmest person (like Kamal was - the bees were his idea) I dreaded my tasks at the hives.  When installing the package into the newly situated hive, I did everything wrong!  The gel feeder fell apart amongst the bees; I dropped the queen and had to fish her out.  In the end, I got the hive set-up and the bees are using entrance. Most importantly, they have a pollen patty and some sugar water to get them going before the nectar from the flowers are out.  

Left-sided newly installed bees with leftover package near the entrance to encourage those bees in the container to join the hive.

The photo above shows the work 1/2 done.  This mild winter has meant the bees have been out and I have been feeding them.  Hence, now is the time to check out how the hive has been doing over the winter.  It's supposed to be in the 70's on Monday so time to take off the winter wrapping.  

Thank God for protective clothing as I really stirred up the bees.  Moved one story from the top to the bottom, tried to separate the supers and picked up some frames from a lower super that were "glued" then unceremoniously dropped the frames to the ground.  Ah well, all of us were happy when I left the premises.