As the warmer weather has cleared all of the snow away and warmed our days and nights, our daily schedule has slowly shifted from full office days, to mornings dedicated to planning and afternoons outside doing a little more physical work. Our days have a balance and flow to them, helping us ease our way into full production mode. Wrapping the day up with our daily yoga practice has been key in keeping our bodies limber and our spirits high!
Soil fertility and pest management have been dominating our discussions and scheduled office time. Our approach to growing and offering you the tastiest, most nutritious veggies is to focus our attention on the quality of our soil. Certified organic farmers commonly believe (and recent data is starting to support this belief) that if you focus your attention on the fertility and condition of your soil, building it up year after year, then your plants will grow strong, resilient and nutrient dense. Plants grown in ideal soil conditions will have the strength to naturally ward off pests and diseases, reducing, possibly even eliminating the need for added pest management measures, such as netting and pesticides. This doesn't only benefit the plants, but also helps lighten the work load as well as stress on farmers!
However, it takes years to build a balanced soil brimming with life, making soil fertility a long term solution. And so in the meantime, we also equip ourselves with short term strategies to help us manage and reduce common pests, such as netting, monitoring, timing throughout the season, and crop rotation (just to name a few...).
As for our afternoons, well they have been a little bit more playful! They've included seeding lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, basil, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Transplanting, cultivating and irrigating different greenery in the tunnels. Ordering and receiving 3 new 100ft tunnels! :) And hiring this year's farming team extraordinaire!
It's been a packed-full two months and sooo worth it 'cause next week we plant outside! Which is perfect because we're fully stocked, prepped and raring to go. Let the outdoor growing season truly begin!
Comments