What can we say occasionally there are just too many things calling you outside early in the morning. In particular today it was the desire to transplant early in the cloudy weather. This August, and summer as a matter of fact has been a hot and dry one. For transplanting our little plant friends it does become quite difficult with those conditions and it pays to make use of those cloudy moments. It’s difficult to think that August and indeed summer is nearly over but if you look around the farm you can certainly begin to feel it. The first bed of spinach has been planted, tonight the first claytonia will be planted and with it Swiss chard for the fall, winter and spring. Strange to say that sitting around on an August afternoon but it’s a matter of fact. Over at Star Light Gardens North West we are coming up on nearly a year of growing there. The season has been great so far, yes a lot of work and yes much more to come. However the opportunity the new land gives to Star Light Gardens is more than worth it. One thing we noticed straight away at SLGNW was the difference in the soil between there and Durham. To put it plainly it lacked the love and attention that we are accustomed to giving. We are big on regular applications of compost and we knew that was step number one Last winter we borrowed a friends truck to deliver a small amount from Durham to Middlefield and this past March the first full dump truck was brought in. Countless wheelbarrow trips later we finished that first load off last Thursday. Later that day we received our second load just in time for the turning over of the high tunnels from summer to winter and fall. It was closely inspected by Joel’s niece and nephew and once their boots were filled with dirt they gave their approval.
Speaking of dirt in the boots we had plenty today in the first of many great high tunnel turnovers. Pulling each plant from the ground results in a decent amount of dirt and the occasional cherry tomato winding up in your boots. This week will see that high tunnel cleaned, prepped then watered well to induce weed seeds to grow. These early weeds will then be destroyed to provide a cleaner growing area for the next planting. A few important things to make note of this week. Wednesday 8/31 is the last day we will be offering home delivery as an option when ordering. Also this week you may have noticed cherry tomatoes were not available for preorder. The Wadsworth market was a success but it did also eat into our inventory. Cherry tomatoes will be available at the markets though as we harvest throughout the week.
Have a great week