The cool front and recent fall planting has us especially excited for our next Farm Tour on Saturday, October 21st at 10:30am! This Farm Tour will feature our new cropping system in the High Tunnel called High Velocity Farming (HVF). A crop planted in an HVF system is one that is ready for harvesting in under 50 days. So far we’ve been able to grow and harvest arugula and radishes using this system. Next up will be baby bok choy! If you want to learn more about the fall crops we’ll be growing here, we encourage you to join us. Our Farm Tours are open to the public and free of charge.

Remember the bush beans and Napa cabbage we planted for fall a couple of weeks ago? Both of them have put on amazing growth which has us really excited for fall. You can see how big the Napa has gotten in the photo above! In order to finish out that prepared block, we planted mustard greens, dill, regular cabbage, and broccoli earlier this week. Farmer Anna is especially excited for the broccoli. This succession is a heat-tolerant variety called Green Magic. We hope to be harvesting it for you by mid-November!

If you stop by the farm, you might notice that this newly planted block has a short fence around it. This is our new electric fencing meant to deter the local rabbit population from chowing down on our crops. This fence is not meant to harm the rabbits but will alarm them if they come in contact with it. The fence will be on except for Tuesday through Saturday from 7am-4pm while we are on site. You can see what the fence looks like in the photo below if you’re curious. Though we have warning signs installed, we ask that you use caution around this area of the farm!

In Season at the Farm Stand: Arugula, Radishes, Eggplant, Long Beans, Okra, Malabar Spinach, and Korean Melons.

Coming Soon: Baby Bok Choy, Bush Beans, and Swiss Chard

January 13th, 2021

We’ve been planting up a storm over the past couple of weeks in preparation for spring. Lettuces like Iceberg, Butterhead, and Little Gem were transplanted this week along with celery. We also sowed English pea and snap pea seeds directly in place in our beds in advance of the spring season. We’re looking forward to a drier weather pattern over the next week that will allow us to prepare more of our beds for spring crops!

If you’ve happened by the farm, you might have noticed our high tunnel structure that resides on the back portion of our field. A high tunnel, also referred to as a hoop house, operates in a similar manner to a greenhouse. The interior of the high tunnel heats up because the solar radiation from the sun warms the plants and soil inside the tunnel faster than the heat can escape. The warm air is then retained by the walls of the tunnel. This allows us to extend the season of some of our crops as it creates more of a temperature-controlled environment. The high tunnel is currently planted with crops that prefer temperatures in the 70s and 80s such as celery, cilantro, and turnips.

Farming always comes with its fair share of potential pests. We’ve been noticing that something loves to munch on our leafy greens in the field. After doing a bit of investigating, we’ve narrowed it down to rabbits! While we are flattered that they love our lettuces, we decided to employ a method that will safely deter them from our crops. We’ve been covering rows of our lettuces and other tender greens with insect netting. The netting allows for adequate sunlight and airflow to get to our crops while simultaneously keeping the rabbits out.