Friday, July 28, 2006

Farm Update

Well, things here are going great. Market has been exceptionally well these last few weeks, mostly i suppose because alot of our crops are finally coming in. Last market we had carrots, beets, turnips, radish, cabbage, brocolli, peas, zucchini, summer squash, parsley, cilantro, sage, lettuce, spicey greens, kale and onions. Really the only major things we're missing are tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, beans, brussles sprouts, corn and winter squash. Within the next week or two we'll probably have everything but brussles sprouts, corn and winter squash. Needless to say this is all very exciting. Plus we have 3 markets next week which is gonna be crazy but we should sell a ton of veggies.

So, as promised heres an update of what's been keeping us so busy these past weeks. Basically we have 4 major projects on the go right now. Tilling up the bottom half of our field, building a mobile greenhouse, constructing a root cellar in the bottom corner of our basement, and... CHICKENS!! That's right, as of several weeks from now we may possibly have a few extra friends here at the farm. A local woman who is moving away from St Andrews has about a half dozen chickens + chicks and can't take them with here when she moves. She doesnt want to slaughter them or just leave them for the racoons, so she's looking for a place that will take them. We still haven't decided whether we will take them or not(as we only found out about this yesterday), but there IS already a chicken coop on the property, so who knows.

The other really exciting project is our mobile greenhouse. The idea behind the mobility is that you avoid the build-up of pests and diseases in the greenhouse by exposing it to the elements, as well as getting much much greater versatility in a crop rotation. The mobility in question is provided by a 2x6 rail secured to the ground and a 2x4 sled that slides on top of it. The greenhouse will either be 40ft long by 25ft wide, or two greenhouses at 12ft by 40ft. The advantages of the smaller greenhouses are that we're almost positive we could move it and that we would have greater versatility with rotations, heating, etc. However, it costs almost the same amount to make one big greenhouse as it does to make one small greenhouse. We, havent decided what to do yet, but rest assured we'll have a picture of it once its up.

Speaking of pictures, here are some before and after shots of our field.
















4 Comments:

At 7/28/2006 05:19:00 p.m., Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello, The Roommates!!

Much love from Canada! I just got back from two months in Europe with Kellen Fo and we thought about you a lot! Whenever we were in an open air market or a rad organic store there was talk of The Farm and an inquisitive discourse that occurred between us! It is mucho excellent to hear that things are going well, and keep posting pictures!!!

Love! Beth

 
At 7/28/2006 08:12:00 p.m., Blogger lynnfield said...

Those are amazing before and after pictures Mike - no wonder you guys are excited about it. I'm thinkin' those chickens will probably become your pets!

 
At 7/29/2006 08:16:00 a.m., Blogger Mike said...

Well, they certainly wont become our dinner ;)

 
At 7/30/2006 02:12:00 a.m., Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wonderful!! (C3PO voice)

 

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