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First rogue hatch of 2011. 13 fuzzy chickies.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• Pea Shoots 
• Stir-Fry Greens
• Claytonia, aka Miners’ Lettuce (for salad)
• Green Onions
• Green Garlic
• Fresh Mint
Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON:
Spinach
Lettuces
Zucchini
Beet Greens
Sweet Onions
Peas

Greenhouse zucchini are blooming and producing before we even get the outside beds planted.

Maybe it was the full moon this week, or maybe summer is really going to stay. This was a week of births. Wednesday the geese hatched five goslings. This was their second attempt, the first only gave them one baby and it didn’t last long. Friday a rogue hen hatched out a clutch of 13 baby chicks—the first of the season. And Saturday Bess finally had her litter of 7 big babies. They were so big that they needed assistance coming into the world, but they are very robust and healthy.

This means, "Don't mess with my babies or I'll eat you!"

If all it takes is one warm day to make the plants grow a noticeable amount, imagine what can happen in a string of several sunny days. The plants grow by leaps and bounds. We planted cabbage starts about the same time that Carpinito brothers planted cabbages next door. This was about 6 weeks ago, and it has been cold. This was a perfect example of the difference between growing organically and conventionally.

Let me explain: The day before we planted, Mike worked some organic fertilizer into the soil. This is a good brand of chicken manure and minerals that works well for us in growing green things. We planted and waited, it rained. Nothing much happened, except that the plants started turning purple. This is a sign of nitrogen or phosphorus deficiency. Why would they be deficient if we had put plenty of fertilizer in the soil? Because organic fertizers don’t work like miracle gro. They are raw nutrients that need to be digested by soil organisms, which then free-up the nutrients in a form that the plants can use. This makes for a healthy, vibrant soil that can support vibrant life.

The day after Carpinito brothers planted their cabbage, they sprayed something, then two days later they sprayed something else. They spray insecticide for flea beetles and for cabbageworms. They might have used a chemical foliar fertilizer as well, in addition to the fertilizer used in the soil. Non-organic fertilizers are chemically active, and available to the plants immediately. In fact, they act so quickly that they burn up the organisms in the soil. In a short time, this results in broken-down  soil devoid of life. When you add that to the fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides used in conventional farms, it is a wonder there is any life left in the soil at all. It becomes merely a substrate, it is no longer soil.

We do spray special fertilizers on the leaves of the plants, when a quick reaction is needed. Mostly we use a type of fish emulsion, with some kelp added for trace minerals. This is our only recourse when the air and soil temperatures are too cold to support soil fertilizer uptake. So finally, after three foliar feeds, the soil is warming up to the point that those organisms can take over feeding the cabbages. And our soil is healthy and full of life.

The peas are flowering, which means pods in about two weeks. The lettuces are growing, which means we’ll have real salads in another week, and the spinach and beets are growing quickly now too. The sweet onions are swelling up nicely into beautiful, juicy bulbs. By July, we won’t have to scavenge around the farm for produce any more—we’ll have no shortage of variety and tastiness.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• Pea Shoots 
• Mixed Spinach and Yokatta-Na Greens, for salad or stir-fry
• Mizuna (use raw, or lightly sautéed, or wilted—mild, mustardy flavor)
• Spicy Pepper Cress (use in salad, or in a sandwich—it IS peppery)
• Green Onions
• Fresh Mint
Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON:
Spinach
Lettuces
Zucchini
Beet Greens
Sweet Onions
Peas

We are continually lured into believing it’s summer, only to be dragged back into March. How cool it’s been again! I’m seriously tired of talking about weather, but how can we help it? It’s unusual and crazy!

The good news: the snap and shelling beans have all popped up and are growing. They did not rot this year. That’s a plus! The shelling peas are starting to bloom, and that means peas in a couple of weeks! The sweet onions are coming along nicely, and we should be picking those in a couple of weeks as well. As much as we want to start eating them, we will just use them up too fast if we pick them small. Better to wait and eat more onion volume. Walla Walla and Torpedo onions—woohoo! The next crop of spinach, and this planting of carrots and beets has germinated and is growing pretty quickly, all things considered. They did not fare so well in the last planting. We have many other greens planted, and they are germinating. The early broccoli crop is growing quickly now, finally. Two foliar feeds of fish emulsion have given it a jump start and the plants are finally ahead of the dreaded Flea Beetles.

Perhaps the sunniest news though is that the zucchini plants we started inside the greenhouse are actually starting to bloom! That means we’re pretty close to zucchini, and those will be closely followed by cucumbers. This is a new experiment—we always plant them outside in the ground. We thought we’d get a jump on it by planting them inside in the lovely manure left behind by the cows. Never have I seen such healthy, dark green plants.

The flower garden is coming along, and many varieties have buds: Poppies, Bachelors Buttons, Corn Cockle, and Rocky Mountain Garland. If it’s warm we should be able to start cutting next week. If it’s cool, it will be two weeks.

Only 150 days or so until Thanksgiving!

We picked up the baby turkeys last Friday, and they are growing quickly. Only 5 months to Thanksgiving and we have 5 turkeys not spoken-for. If you want one, reserve it ASAP. Our friends, who also raise Dexter cows in Covington have grass-fed beef for sale. They are selling ground beef and have two steers to sell as halves. Let me know if you are interested in those too, because they will go quickly. It’s good beef—remember the ground beef from last year? Everyone wanted more after they tasted it.

This is where the word "ruminate" comes from. It's what cows do best. Chew and ponder the universe.

Planting will continue in earnest now. The greenhouse is full of starts waiting to go out, and I am ready to fill it up again with flats that I will plant this week.