We are already half way through spring, and summer solstice is just a month ahead! The unusually sunny and warm weather we had was such a treat no doubt, but in the field we experienced both pros and cons as a result of that. Most of the plants took up on the nice weather for their advantage while some got confused. The warm weather boosted the growth of many plants, and helped drying out parts of the wetland (Field 3), but crops like broccolini and some of the spring greens which prefer cool temperature got upset a little and started flowering(bolting). In addition, we needed to water some crops as early as the first week of May this time.

Last year we didn’t have to water until much later because last spring was cold and wet if you remember. So, there you go, that’s farming…there is always something to deal with, rain or shine.…never boring. The greenhouse is filled with seedlings and we put an extra table to make more space for seedling trays. We ordered the second round of coco coir since the first batch was already getting low (we initially ordered a conservative quantity of the mix for the first batch to see how it works, and it’s been working great!). In the field, lettuce, radishes, chard, potatoes, onions, leeks, broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, mustard, beans, peas, carrots, beets, corn, summer squash, flowers and herbs are already in….also tomatoes. We just seeded winter squash last week, too. The season is smoothly sailing forward as scheduled so far, except we failed in red onions germination. As a result, we may have less quantity of red onions than originally planned this year. We did reseed red onions last week due to the failure, but it may be too late to mature (we also found red onion starts to save time and planted, but not many).

The new irrigation system is working well. We no longer use city water for irrigation except washing produce and containers. We continue to implement and experiment with the new irrigation system in a way that suits the best practice of the farm operation as well as conserves water and creates less impact to environment. By the way, the last week’s gusty wind took down a couple of trees on the farm, but luckily no major damage other than that. Although the roller coaster weather may continue for the rest of May, and perhaps into June(?), the relatively mild spring weather has been a good news over all helping the growing season sound. We are beginning to recruit volunteers for the farm season now, so please let us know if you know people who may be interested. Our tractor is still in the shop for repair. Let’s cross fingers. That’s it for now, and more news in a few weeks.

Thanks. – Farmer John –