Farm School Fall Series Week Eight

God bless our Veterans today and every day!

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Farm School is in full swing.
We're busier than ever and lovin' every minute of it!

Our day began with a check-up on the goings-on in the garden.

The Swiss Chard is slow growing.
Plants that didn't germinate or had excessive pest damage
are placed on the ground to be reseeded.

Having had little progress with my own beet plants,
I was happy to hear Lynn say they are slow to reach maturity.
Most of his are doing better than mine at home.

His germination rate is pretty doggone good.

Willya lookee here?
ROMAS!!

These jewel clusters are a sight for sore eyes.
Can't wait to use some of these to make some homemade gravy.

 Peas are up!

 It won't be long until we are sampling these tender morsels.
Folks at the farmer's market are already clamoring for them.

Some plants are doing better than others,
although Lynn hasn't quite figured out why.
The first four rows in the foreground were planted on the same day.

These, closest to the outskirts of the garden
looked "anemic" according to Lynn.

The couple of rows further in look lush, green and healthy.



The lettuce that looked so appetizing last week,

bolted with the warmer temperatures this past week.
Thankfully, there are seedlings ready for transplant to begin a new crop.

A few of the established eggplant are showing signs of production.

One of our tasks today was to transplant eggplant seedlings 
into larger pots.
Lynn added these rods for extra support during windy days.

Cages are then placed around the crops
so that they don't have to be disturbed later.
 

Lynn uses bricks or nails to anchor the plastic rings in his pots.
He recently realized that he could also use these stakes to keep them in place.

Crops are checked daily for critters like these.

 Isn't this lil' guy amazing?

Today we also transplanted several  types of lettuces.
This is Romaine, one of my personal favorites.

Here's the method that we use on the Farm.

A single nail is placed in the center cutout of the plastic ring.

The plastic is removed,
and a hole is dug around the nail for the new seedling.

The seedling is removed from the cellpack
and gingerly placed in the hole.

The plastic ring is then replaced over the seedling.
We try to center the plants in their new home.

On this size pot,
only 2 nails are needed to secure the plastic cover.

Lynn uses only stainless steel nails in his garden pots.

We work assembly-line style until every transplant is happy in its new spot.
Water them in well and send them some love.

brown widow spider and egg sacks

The sides of pots are the perfect hideout for this notorious creature.

Brussels sprouts will soon be transplanted,

as well as more eggplant seedlings.
In case of pest problems or disease, 
there are always extra transplants to ensure production.

A few green tomatoes were picked before the horn worms could get to them.
Faye & Lynn will be enjoying fried green tomatoes this week.

powderpuff plant

We hope that you enjoy the Farm School Series.
It's our intention to share good growing practices,
a sense of responsibility to nature and an appreciation for learning.

See how Farm School got started here.