Grand Dash to Get All Planted- Done!

Well...it has been a grand dash to get everything planted.  Here's what I have left to do:

Tomatillos, basil, parsley and other herbs, flowers, chard, cabbage and Brussels sprouts awaiting planting.

My mother and my sister helped plant eggplants and hot peppers over the weekend.  In the last week, we planted the last 100 tomato plants, sweet peppers, sweet potatoes (see below), radishes, ground cherries, beets, carrots, cilantro, and more salad greens, cucumbers and summer squash.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, they look rather anemic when the slips come through the mail.  They like heat and dry conditions.  We will see how things turn out for us in September.  The variety that grows best for many Northern growers is Beauregard.

I put these in last week.  By yesterday, some were thriving with new lovely purple and green leaves and some look like they did not survive the transplant.  It's too early to tell. 

The lower field of thirteen 100-ft beds now has less than 60 feet empty.   The upper field has grown to nineteen 140-ft beds, with two beds left to be planted.

Sweet potatoes, two kinds of eggplant, salad  greens sprouting and the ground cherries.
Dashing out of the field before a thunderstorm, this is the bottom of the upper field.

Parsley and cilantro transplants border the slow to germinate carrots and the quick germinating lettuce.   Now, it's time to help them grow by weeding, scouting for pests and fertilizing, if needed.

A Paucity of Sun Does Not Delay Progress

A paucity of sun does not delay progress, it is just uncomfortable for the farmer.  For instance, today, I transplanted head lettuce, baby leaf lettuce and spinach.  Thank goodness, for my "Gloucester-fisherman-attire,"  everyone can see me from miles away and I keep dry in the mud.

Many of the summer crops are ready to go in the ground as they are not happy in their plastic cells. Here is what the upper field looked like on Friday.

We are waiting for the potatoes to sprout in the foreground.  Nothing is planted in the biodegradable mulch beds.

What needs to be done, when the weather cooperates.

Seedlings hardening-off, exposed to full sun and wind before being planted in ground, hopefully this will ease the transplant shock.  Having the pampered beginnings in the greenhouse, they are about to face the realities of wind, drought, rain and more rain and bugs.

Saturday's work done.

Cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini with row cover to help moderate the cooler temperatures right now.  More importantly, the row cover is to protect the plants from the cucumber beetle.

Sunday's work started.  K. had the hardest job.

Preparing for the tomatoes, it will be 175 stakes for 350 plants.  Half the tomatoes are planted.  I am waiting for sun to plant the rest.

On Monday, we planted beans, arugula and salad greens.  In lower field, melons were planted. May we all have a couple sunny days during the Memorial Day weekend. 

Planting Potatoes and Swiss Chard

We had a sunny weekend and help from family to plant five rows of potatoes.  We could not have accomplished as much without them.

Here's the seed drying.

Kamal wrestling with the walk-behind tractor to make rows and furrows.

Planting the seed.

Then, we cover them with dirt to hill them.  Once the greens shoot up and are six inches tall, we hill them again.

Last weekend, we planted a bed of chard.  I am using biodegradable mulch for early weed control. 

Placing the transplant into the hole.

Here I am pushing out the plant from the tray with a reused- plastic container full of organic fertilizer (not whey protein.)  I give the plants a boost of fertilizer when transplanting.

Much has been planted for the 2012 Bobbin Farm CSA

Carrots, beets, peas, leeks, onions (bunching, storage and green), shallots, chard, kale (curly and Tuscan), cauliflower, fingerling potatoes and winter squash have all been planted.  Summer crops are hardening-off  before planting in the next two weeks.  Parsley, cilantro, spinach, salad greens, golden beets and some flowers are in trays and ready to be put in the ground.

The back field before the rains and bed preparation.

The front field after plowing, again, before the weeks of rain.

Now, May 16th, the back field is almost completely filled in.  I hope folks love winter squash!

 Row cover creates a barrier to shelter the plants from pests.
 

Farmers/ Community Gardeners Have Begun Picking Up Seedlings

10 April showing eggplants, peppers and tomatoes sprouting.

I feel relief.  This Saturday, May 19,  all greenhouse starts will be picked up.  I along with a number of other volunteers grew plants for ourselves, some local farmers and community gardeners in and around Lowell. 

Once the young pepper leaves came up and the cucumbers and melons were seeded, we realized that we had a mouse problem.  Along with traps and row cover protection we were able to save the plants.   I caught three mice.

 Kamal made a couple of "cages" for protection.

For two weeks, every night we covered plants with row cover and then removed it in the morning.

 A ghostly image at night.

 Early in the morning, time to uncover and water.

How the greenhouse looked at the beginning of May.