Fall Planting Has Started

Every Saturday in August we will be planting seeds for eventual transplant either into the garden or greenhouse.  Here are two week old lettuce seedlings that are well on their way. 

We have the following lettuce varieties planted.  Red Sails, Tom Thumb, Valmaine, Dancine, and Tropicana.  There are also Dino Kale, Romanesco Cauliflower, and Broccoli seedlings in the flats.

The flats of seeds are in a semi-shaded area under some pine trees.  They are covered with chicken wire and 30% shade cloth to keep the birds out.

Planting Bed Shaper under construction

The Bed shaper attaches to the rear of our tractor drawn rototiller.  The loose soil is formed into a raised bed as the tractor moves forward.  A roll of irrigation line sits on the top bar and a roll of plastic mulch can sit in the space below it.  Yet to be added are two wheels to hold the plastic down while two additional discs throw soil upon the plastic edges to secure them.  In one pass you form the bed, add irrigation lines and cover the whole bed with plastic to conserve moisture and block the weeds. (Important during the winter unless you want to hoe in the mud!) You plant by cutting small slits in the plastic and setting your small plants into the slitted area.

We have ordered a small roll of black and white plastic which is supposed to be good for the Romanesco Cauliflower that we are growing this fall.  There is also a product available that is made out of corn starch and will biodegrade into the soil so there is no plastic waste for the landfill.

These bed shapers are available for $2,000 - $3,000 but we are building ours out of scrap we have around the farm.  We have to buy a few parts but the completed unit should not cost more than a couple of hundred dollars. 

Sad News!

 Dusty and Prince have been adopted by Luke and Elena at the the Porter-Bass Vineyard and Winery in Geyserville CA.  Porter-Bass is a small organic operation that is trying to integrate horses into their vineyard management program.   They were looking for a good team to help get them started.  We have had the boys for over 16 years and it feels like we have lost a part of the family.  But we are glad that they can get a little more exercise and help train a new generation of teamsters  who want to keep the romance and art of animal assisted agriculture alive.  Here they are heading up the hill to their new home!  Good bye boys.

Green House is Ready!

Our new hoop house is covered with plastic, the ends are on and we have moistened the soil to see how many weeds we can sprout and kill before we plant in about two weeks.  The grant has funded and we have returned the money we borrowed from our supporters.  Thanks again for joining together in this project.